What Once Was
by Flopsy
Summary: A story of Christopher Perry Halliwell’s life, beginning on his second birthday following through to when he leaves his time and journeys back to the past to save Wyatt from becoming evil. Please RnR, flames accepted
1. Daddy's Comming Today

Disclaimer: I don't own charmed or anything to do with it, I just wrote this story

Chapter 1

Two years old today. People were coming, streamers were been strung, balloons were been blown, presents were been wrapped, cake was been baked and general toddler food was been prepared. Chris Halliwell was one excited little boy, though his reasons for been excited were not to do with any of that kind of birthday stuff, in fact little Chris was quite unaware of all those happenings. Today was his birthday and he had only asked the man in the clouds for one thing. He asked for it every night before he went to sleep ever since his mommy said his birthday was coming two weeks ago. He asked for his daddy to come and to play with him at his party, that's all he wanted.

As his mommy dressed him and his big brother Wyatt in their best clothes Chris couldn't keep the big grin of his face, he was so happy. Once Wyatt had finished and left the room in search of his aunts, Piper decided to question Chris on the cause of his excitement.

"Are you excited about your party today Chris?" asked Piper looking down at her adorable little boy who had joy radiating from him.

Chris let his mom pull his shirt over his head then looked up at her face and said, his smile growing bigger, "Daddy's coming today, for my party"

Piper smiled down at her son her eyes sparkling "Yes he is baby, you will be able to show him how big you have gotten since the last time he was here"

"Yeah" said Chris enthusiastically "and I can show him all the new toys I got"

"Yes you..."

"And I can show him my new power" exclaimed Chris cutting across Piper.

"Chris," said Piper warningly "remember you can't let anyone else see your power, wait until the end when everyone leaves, ok?"

"Ok mommy" answered Chris sweetly

Piper finished tying his last shoelace, gave him a quick kiss on the forehead and helped him down off of his new big boy bed.

"I love you baby" said Piper ruffling her son's hair as he turned to leave. "Happy Birthday"

Chris turned back to his mother and wrapped his little arms around her legs "I love you too mommy" said Chris then he turned and ran out of his room leaving a worried mother behind.

"Your arse better turn up today Leo" she said allowed in the empty room hoping that wherever he was that her ex-husband had heard her and not become to busy to show up like he had for the last four of his monthly visits to his children . But this was Chris's birthday he couldn't possibly miss that could he.

One hour into the party Piper was really starting to worry. Leo had not yet showed up and there was only two hours left until everyone went home. She looked over at Chris and noticed that he was not fussed; he was still convinced that he was coming, and Piper knew her child well enough to know that he still would be until everyone went home. Phoebe and Paige sensed their sister's uneasiness and were doing their best to comfort her but both knew that she would not settle down till Leo was here.

Across the room Chris was having a great time. All these kids had come to his house to play with him, it was really fun. Chris was normally shy but he was coming out of his shell and having a great time. Wyatt stayed close to him the whole time making sure he was ok, knowing that his little brother got a bit uncomfortable around lots of people, but he seemed to be doing fine.

Chris was sitting on the floor playing blocks with Wyatt and a boy called Tommy they knew from the park. He was thinking about his dad, he was sure he was coming; it didn't matter if he was a little late. He had to be coming because it was Chris's birthday and his mommy had told him that that meant it was his special day and he had to have a lot of fun on it.

Chris thought about it and remembered the last time his dad had come. He had only come for a very small amount of time but Chris remembered the hug his daddy gave him, but that was it, his daddy talked to his mommy and Aunt Phoebe and Aunt Paige and then left again. That was all Chris could remember about his dad, he hadn't really seen him in a very long time but Wyatt talked about him all the time. He had told Chris about how their daddy was an angel that helped others, and about how important he was. Wyatt also told Chris about how good their dad was at playing hide and seek and other games. Chris new his daddy because he could always feel him around him, the problem was Chris couldn't see him and could barely remember what he looks like. Today Chris decided he was going to memorise his face.

Suddenly Chris felt something he hadn't felt for a long time. His daddy had just orbed into the house. Chris's head snapped up from his blocks and his eyes scanned the conservatory they were in. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Wyatt do the same. Just as he looked towards one of the doors Chris saw a tall man walk through it. He remembered him now, it was his daddy. Chris saw him flop down on the closest chair to him and noticed that he looked very tired.

Chris quickly got up off floor and started to run across the room to give his daddy a hug. Half way across he saw a bunch of white lights form above his daddy's lap and Wyatt appeared in its place. Chris quickly stopped and looked behind him but no one noticed so he restarted his path to his dad, walking this time.

When he arrived his daddy didn't notice him standing their, he was to busy talking to Wyatt, but that was ok cause Wyatt missed their daddy too. After a minute Chris got impatient and tugged on Leo's sleave. Leo looked down and saw his youngest son standing there and smiled slightly.

"Happy Birthday Chris" he said then he turned back to his other son and continued talking. Wyatt quickly looked over at Chris and mouthed sorry but Chris just shook his head saying it was ok and walked away.

As Chris was walking back towards his blocks he felt a pain in his chest where his mommy had told him his heart was. Chris quietly sat back down with his blocks and looked down at the floor. He heard a loud laugh come from the other end of the room and saw his daddy laughing and Wyatt giggling. He saw his daddy pull Wyatt in to his chest and hug him really tight. Chris felt the pain in his heart get a little worse. He thought about it a bit and decided he was been silly. His daddy was just busy with Wyatt now; he would talk to Chris when they were finished.

An hour and a half later Piper called Chris over to the table and told him it was time for cake. As everyone was singing him the happy birthday song Chris looked around the table and noticed that two people were missing, Wyatt and his daddy. His mommy interrupted his thoughts and told him to blow out his candles and to make a wish. Chris blew the candles out as he was told but the sight he saw while doing it made him forget to make a wish. His daddy was still on the same seat as before and Wyatt was still with him. Wyatt was lying down on his daddy's chest with his eyes closed and a little smile on his face. His daddy had his eyes a little bit open showing that he was awake, he was looking down at Wyatt's head and slowly stroking his little brothers hair with his hand. His daddy had never done that for him. The ache in the little boy's heart came back and he felt a tear slowly fall down his cheek. Chris wanted to look away from them so bad but he couldn't his eyes were locked and wouldn't move as he watched every stoke of the hair from his daddy's hand to his brothers head. It hurt so much.

After the candles had been blown out everyone's attention turned away from the small boy to the cake which was now been handed out by Sheila. Everyone's except the attention of Piper, Phoebe and Paige. Their attention was on the little boy in front of them and they were shocked to see tears roll down his tiny cheek one by one until the top of his t-shirt started to get wet. Following the distressed little boys gaze they understood why and the realization broke their hearts.

Soon enough the party was over and everyone left. Chris had calmed down now; his mommy had given him a big hug and told him to enjoy his party. He tried to but he didn't have anymore fun and stayed of to the side away from the other kids. After the last person left Leo got up and went upstairs to put the sleeping Wyatt in his bed.

"Do you want to open your presents Chris" asked Aunt Phoebe gesturing to the pile of presents that his friends had bought.

Chris shook his head "Wait for Wyatt. I promised" he answered. Phoebe nodded but was looking at him with a concerned expression clouding her features.

Paige then knelt down in front of him. "Are you alright little man" she asked

Chris didn't answer at first and gave her a hug, then said "Just tired"

"Well let's take you up to bed then shall we" said Paige scooping him up off the floor and into her arms, walking him to his bedroom that he shared with Wyatt. Phoebe followed close behind.

"Are you excited about your first night in your big boy bed" asked Phoebe

Chris smiled and nodded his head "Yes, I love my new bed" he said with a little brightness coming back into his eyes.

"Where's mommy" asked the little boy suddenly

"She is cleaning up all the mess your friends made" Chris smiled sheepishly at that.

Just as they were about to turn into the bedroom, Leo came out.

"Oh hey Chris" he said "I've got something for you" Leo closed his eyes and a second later a neatly wrapped package appeared in his arms, which he promptly handed to Chris. Leo then ruffled his hair and continued walking down stairs.

Chris looked down at the package in his hands, his eyes loosing their spark once again. He then felt two sets of lips kiss either side of his head. Chris asked for his mommy to come say goodnight so Phoebe left to go fetch her. Paige then put Chris down and watched as he walked into his room and dropped is fathers present onto the ground and inconspicuously nudged it under the bed and out of sight.

By the time his mom came into the room Aunt Paige had just finished changing him into his pyjamas and was tucking him into bed. His mom came over and again told him she loved him gave him another kiss and cuddle and told him to sleep well. His aunts repeated his mommy's actions and the three of them left the room whispering one last time that they loved him.

Once the door was closed Chris let the tears fall. He didn't know what he had done wrong. His daddy didn't play with him all day and that hurt. Chris felt a small hand on his shoulder and turned over to see that his big brother had gotten out of bed to come and see him. When Wyatt saw the tears he felt horrible.

"I'm sorry Chris" he said "I shouldn't hog daddy like that. I'm real sorry"

"It's ok Wyatt" Sniffled Chris "Not your fault" And with that Wyatt climbed into bed with his little brother and hugged him while they listened to loud shouts coming from down stairs. And that's how they were found the next morning, sound asleep in each others arms.

A/N: Please RnR, flames excepted I would just like your opinion whether it be good bad or whatever.


	2. Brotherly Love

Disclaimer: I don't own charmed or anything to do with it. So please don't sue.

A/N: Thankyou to all the people that reviewed, please keep doing so. I love feedback.

Chapter 2

Three and a half year old Chris trudged up the stairs heading towards his bedroom. His shoulders were slumped and he had a small brightly wrapped package in hand. His face was downcast and eyes were suppressing tears.

Once he reached his room Chris knelt down on the floor beside his bed and pushed the package in his hand underneath. Tonight was exactly two nights before Christmas and his dad had come over for the holiday. Leo was going to be busy on Christmas day so he had decided to celebrate Christmas tonight with his boys while Piper and her sisters went out to a Christmas party for Phoebe's work.

The night had started out great. The three ordered pizza for dinner and got a nice Christmas movie to watch afterwards. Chris had a good time in the beginning. His daddy talked to him for a while, not as much as he talked to Wyatt but Chris took what he could get. After dinner however his daddy stopped talking to him, like he had forgotten that Chris was even there. His daddy played games with Wyatt while Chris stood by and watched. Chris didn't really mind though, he was used to it by now.

Once the movie had begun, Leo told his little boys to stay where they were and that he would be back in a moment. A few minutes later Leo came back into the room with two bowls in his hands. He sat back on down on the couch and handed one of the bowls to Wyatt and kept the other for himself. Chris looked over at Wyatt and saw that his bowl was full of ice-cream with chocolate topping. Chris looked up at his daddy with sad eyes.

"Where's mine" he had asked softly

Leo didn't even acknowledge his son as he was far too engrossed in the movie they were watching. Noticing this Chris had decided to just get it himself, so he pulled himself up off the floor, his daddy and Wyatt were taking up the whole couch, and walked into the kitchen.

When he got there he realised he couldn't reach anything so he got the stool and climbed onto it. First he reached out to the Freezer door to pull the ice-cream out of it. With that done he dropped the ice-cream onto the floor so his hands would be free to get the bowl. To reach the cupboard Chris had to stretch his little body as far as he could. He felt around on the cupboard and after what seemed like an age his tiny little hand latched onto a bowl. When he was about to pull back a voice calling his name from the other room startled him. Chris completely lost concentration and slipped off the stool. The fall from the chair to the ground went by in the slowest of slow motions. Finally Chris hit the ground with a loud thud and a small snap coming from his right wrist. A second after he hit the ground a bunch of plates smashed into little bits all around him, missing him only by inches.

The next thing Chris new, he was crying loudly and his big brother was on the floor beside him trying to calm him down.

"DADDY" he wailed

"Daddy left a minute ago Chris" whispered Wyatt "He said someone needed him"

"My arm hurts" sobbed Chris

"It's going to be alright" said Wyatt as he patted his little brother's head "He said he would be back in ten minutes"

"How longs that" asked Chris still crying

"I don't know, but it sounds soon" Chris started to calm down a bit. His brother was soothing him and making him feel really comforted.

"I think we should clean up" continued Wyatt a minute later

"I can't move my hand" said Chris only lightly sobbing now "You heal it" he asked holding out his arm.

"I don't know how, maybe we should call daddy" said Wyatt

"Aunt Paige instead" said Chris softly looking down at the floor. He new if his daddy saw the mess he would get mad.

"Aunt Paige, Aunt Paige" called the two of them repeatedly.

"She would have heard us by now I think, but she might not come, she thinks daddy's here" said Wyatt a couple of minutes later "Daddy left presents for us" he continued, "do you want yours"

"Later" said Chris shaking his head. Wyatt new he wouldn't open the present, he never did. Chris didn't want toys off his daddy; he just wanted his daddy to pay him some attention. Wyatt was going to clean up the mess but Chris wanted him to stay with him. So he cleared a patch of the broken bowl covered floor and sat down beside his brother gently rubbing circles on his back.

About an hour later Leo orbed back into the manor and the sight he saw shocked him. Chris was lying on the kitchen floor asleep while Wyatt was walking around picking up broken bits of bowls on putting them in a pile.

"What happened here" Leo asked his son in a low voice

"Chris was getting ice-cream" answered Wyatt honestly

"CHRIS" shouted Leo waking the small boy "Get up" Chris did as he was told and stood up before his father with frightened eyes.

"Explain" said his daddy in a scary voice

"You forgot to get me ice-cream so I came to get some then I fell" said Chris, his voice trembling, all signs of sleep gone. Chris knew he had said something wrong because his daddy got a really mean look in his eyes and started shouting at him. Chris didn't catch much of what he said but he got the last two words, "Room, now"

Wyatt let go of the arm that he held onto while their daddy yelled at his little brother and watched him go sadly. He didn't understand why their daddy was so mean to Chris, Chris was a better kid then he, Wyatt got into so much more trouble. It was all very weird.

On his way past the living room to the stairs Chris had caught site of two packages. After much effort he made out which one was the package addressed to him and picked it up. Now the package was under his bed and he was on top of it crying.

His arm was hurting really badly and so was his chest. His chest always hurt after his daddy came over. His daddy never really even talked to him. He talked to everyone else. He laughed with them and made jokes and everything, but never with him. Chris didn't understand why. He guessed that his daddy just didn't love him. He never told Chris that he did. So maybe that was it. But why didn't he love him. Maybe he had done something to upset daddy once, thought Chris, and his daddy was angry at him about it. Oh well maybe he would ask his mommy tomorrow, he then put all his energy into trying to get to sleep.

Half an hour later Chris was lying in his bed still awake. The pain in his arm was getting steadily worse and tears were once again rolling down his face. He didn't want to go to his dad about it because he thought that he would just yell at him again, so Chris stayed where he was.

The sound of foot steps coming towards his room broke the silence in the room. Chris knew it could only be his daddy because the footsteps were too loud for Wyatt and his mommy and aunts weren't home yet. Chris quickly closed his eyes and hid his face in his pillow pretending to be asleep. He heard the door open and his daddy talk quietly with Wyatt. He heard his daddy tuck Wyatt into bed and even heard the sound his daddy's lips made when he kissed Wyatt. Every single one of those sounds hurt Chris more then his arm ever could, but the sound which hurt most of all was the sound of the 'I love you' his daddy said to Wyatt as he left the room.

"Wyatt" spoke Chris after his daddy left the room

"Yeah" came the reply

"My arm really hurts Wy"

"Why don't you get daddy to fix it" said Wyatt, he was now out of his bed and standing beside Chris's

"Because he's mad at me" Chris said. It was then that Wyatt noticed the tears which were still pouring out of his eyes.

"Shh" said Wyatt patting his back in an attempt to comfort his upset little brother. "Well I could have ago" he reasoned

Wyatt climbed up onto Chris' bed and got into a comfortable position. He then placed his hands over Chris's little right arm and closed his eyes. Nothing happened.

"Why does daddy hate me" asked Chris, his face resembled that of a sad little puppy dog. Wyatt's heart ached at the sound of his little brother asking that question. His daddy caused a lot of heartache in his family, he could sense it.

"I don't think he does Chissy" said Wyatt softly, looking into his little brothers green eyes. "But it doesn't matter even if he does"

"Why" asked Chris in a small voice

"Because no matter what I love you" Wyatt then bent his head down and placed a delicate kiss on his brothers forehead. When he sat up again he noticed that his hands were glowing and Chris' arm was looking normal again.

"I love you too Wyatt" Chris said right before falling off into a deep contented sleep.

Wyatt then hopped back off the bed and crawled back into his own. He knew that there was going to be a lot of yelling between his mommy and daddy the next time his daddy came. Wyatt knew he had to tell his mommy that their daddy had left them alone and about what happened to Chris. He was a big brother and it was his job to protect his little brother, even if it meant dobbing on his daddy. Wyatt took one last look over at his brother and felt a great big rush of pride. He was so happy that he was able to help him like that. Wyatt then drifted off into a comfortable slumber looking forward to the morning when he could talk about his new controlled power.

A/N: Next chapter is a day at the park with a matchmaker Chris. It will involve a little less Leo and a little more the rest of the family.


	3. A Mother's Heartache

Disclaimer: I don't own anything to do with Charmed, I just wrote the story

A/N: I'm terribly sorry; the little preview I gave at the end of the last chapter is for the next chapter not this one. Sorry

Chapter 3

Piper's face was one of absolute calmness. Behind that facade, she was furious. A minute ago she was sitting down at the kitchen counter happily eating breakfast when out of the blue a letter had appeared at her side.

'Can't take the boys today. See you next month.' It had said. Her damn ex-husband was becoming quite an insufferable git in his old age. Well that's not true elders don't age. In his time then, thought Piper.

Five years ago, if somebody had told her that her loving sweet angel of a husband would become like he had she would have laughed right in their face, not believing a word of it. Five years ago Leo was a loving father to Wyatt, and was anxious to see the next one which was on the way. He had chosen the new baby's name, Christopher Perry for a boy after his father, and Prudence Melinda for a girl. He had made sure that the charmed ones were the only charges he had to take care of as a White lighter, and he stayed with his family rarely ever going 'up there'.

Then tragedy had struck. His little boy, his precious Wyatt had been taken. It had happened so suddenly. One minute they had all been standing in the conservatory talking while Wyatt played in his playpen, the next thing they knew, the play pen was empty and the little boy was nowhere in sight. At first everyone had thought that Wyatt had just orbed to somewhere else in the house but soon discovered that was not so.

A month past and their little boy had yet to come home. By then Piper was absolutely hysterical, even more so then when he had first gone and that was quite a feat. She spent all her time crying, unable to help with the hunt for her child due to the new one on the way. Then Piper went into labour. Paige had taken her to the hospital as Leo and Phoebe were out following a new lead. The birth of Chris had not gone as smoothly as one hoped it would. During Piper had lost a lot of blood and for a while there the doctors were convinced that they'd lose her. Leo had been called to the hospital, Paige taking his place in the hunt. He broke down. He had not been able to bare the thought that he would lose his son and wife too. Piper surprised them all and pulled through.

Baby Chris was born a happy and healthy little boy. Leo had refused to even look at him, let alone hold him. He was already angry at the child; he had almost lost him his wife. As soon as Piper was given the all clear he was back on the search for his little boy. But what he had not known was that while he was at the hospital that little boy had been found.

Wyatt was found in the underworld fending off all kinds of attacks. It had been Paige who found the child, he was just holding onto life. As soon as they could they had taken the boy from that awful place, and once home found his father. Leo had taken one look at his son and felt pure rage towards the offender who did those things. He had become even more furious when told that they had no idea of the identity of the attacker. He had healed his son and orbed away.

For months Leo did not return home, not even for a minute. Piper later found out that he was searching the underworld, consorting with demons trying to get revenge on the offender. Though the answers to who attacked his son did not come until much later. One day he had stopped off at magic school to gather some information, just before going out on another hunt when Wyatt orbed into his arms. That had startled him. He hadn't seen his son in such a long time. But what happened next made the former look like nothing. Gideon had walked into the room to great him, and when the man's eyes meant the eyes of his son, they reflected only horror. Wyatt's shield had flown up faster then ever before and then Leo knew. That evil bastard had been the one. He had taken his son.

Piper remembered that she had been the next person to arrive on the scene. She had been in the nursery with Wyatt when he orbed out. She had run out after him. Piper had been completely shocked to see Gideon as he had been away on some sort of mission for the last seven months and wasn't due back for a while yet, and she had been even more shocked to see her estranged husband. She had not seen him since the day Chris was born and Wyatt was found. A second after surveying the scene in front of her the realisation dawned on Piper also. She had looked at Leo and saw the look in his eye. It was one of complete malice, a look she had not thought Leo capable of. She quickly called Wyatt to her and he orbed them home. She had given her baby to Phoebe and told Paige to orb her back.

When Piper had arrived back on the scene it was completely different to the one she had left. Leo had been standing there looking menacingly at a scorch mark on the floor, just below where Gideon had been standing minutes ago. Beside him was an upper level demon also looking at the spot. Piper couldn't believe it; Leo had basically just killed an elder, except he had gotten a demon to do it for him. Piper could only stand there and look at him blankly, that was not the man she had fallen in love with. Her man was full of love; this one was full of hatred.

The next thing that happened hadn't shocked Piper so much. Leo was been pulled upwards, white lights surrounding him, against his will. It was exactly like what had happened at their fist attempt of a wedding. The elders wanted answers and they wanted them then, they weren't going to wait. Piper had then felt a hand gently rubbing her shoulder. It was Paige. She had forgotten that she was still there. Piper had turned around and sobbed uncontrollably into her shoulder. She didn't judge Leo for wanting revenge on Gideon and she didn't even judge him for vanquishing him. But she couldn't get the look in his eyes out of her mind. Leo had changed and it certainty wasn't for the better.

Piper hadn't seen her husband until eight months later. He had come back completely different again. He was an elder now. He had taken Gideon place. He was passive again, well at least that was the face he put out for everyone to see, but he still wasn't the man Piper had married and Piper new he never would be again. Just looking at the way that man treated her baby was enough to prove that fact to her. She was furious with this person. He had come back to tell Piper the news of his promotion and to let her know that this meant they could no longer be married. That was a piece of news that she didn't get too upset over. Her marriage had basically ended when Leo left after Chris was born. She had barley seen him since. He had chosen revenge over his family and that was enough to make Piper give up on him. She hadn't done so right away but after six months of waiting for him to come back to her and getting absolutely no sign that he would Piper had finally taken her sisters advice and let go.

Leo only came to visit his sons once a month and on special occasions and he rarely ever came for the monthly visits anyway. He always left a note saying that he wasn't coming, never having the guts to say it to her face. He always left it up to her to break their little boy's hearts, in the process breaking her heart to see the hurt looks on their faces. Piper actually wouldn't mind if she never saw Leo again, she hated the person he had become, but he was the father of her children and even if she were to get married again, Leo would always be their dad. That fact would never change, it couldn't be changed.

Now Piper was walking a walk she had walked so many times before. It was the walk to her boy's room, to let them know that their daddy wasn't coming. The walk to see the pained looks in their eye. To see those looks been quickly replaced by ones of nonchalance, trying not to seem like they cared so they wouldn't get hurt. She was on her way to break her four and five year olds little hearts, again.

Piper hesitantly opened the door to see one of her baby's sleeping and her other baby's blue eyes look right at her.

"He isn't coming is he" asked the child softly. Piper's heart broke, again.

A/N: Please RnR. Thankyou for all the great reviews so far and to California Chick you should have gotten your answer from this chapter but if you didn't this is the future where Wyatt is evil.


	4. Mischief and Matchmaking

Disclaimer: I don't own charmed or have anything to do with it.

Four year old Chris had been disappointed when he had found out that his daddy wasn't coming again early this morning, but he wasn't really, really disappointed, because in truth he didn't even know his daddy that well. He knew hi Uncle Darrell better then he knew his daddy. The only things that he did know about his daddy were things that he learned in the stories his mommy told him and his big brother every night before they went to bed. But to him, the man in the stories was his mommy's old husband, not his daddy; he didn't have a daddy, not really.

After his mommy had told him that his daddy wasn't coming to visit him again, she had told him that they were going to the park for a family picnic instead. So here they were, Wyatt, Mommy, Aunt Paige and him. Aunt Phoebe had to go to work first for something important but would be coming later. Oh wait here she came now. In little Chris's head she looked very weird because she was walking by herself but her lips were moving like she was talking to someone. She wasn't on the phone either.

Chris had seen her do this a lot of times before, and it was usually when she was upset about something. So he jumped down off the play equipment he was on and ran over to her wrapping his arms around her middle. He then heard her mutter something about a Leslie. He didn't know anyone called Leslie so he decided to ask her.

"Who's Leslie Aunt Phoebe?" he asked looking up at her innocently

She looked down at the small boy then answered "Oh just an annoying boy I knew a long time ago when you were a baby" Chris nodded not really listening to what she was saying, just enjoying the hug he was giving her.

"Leslie's back?" that was his mommy who spoke. She had come over from where she was sitting to where they were standing.

"Yes" answered Phoebe sounding annoyed "And he's just as cocky as ever. We were only talking for ten minutes and I could tell he thought I still had feelings for him"

"Oh, and you don't" asked Piper with one eyebrow raised, exaggerating the 'Oh'.

"Of course not" answered Phoebe sharply "I mean why would I, I haven't seen him in almost four years and even back then I barley got to know him"

"So you're not attracted to him at all" asked a smirking Piper

"No, not at all" Phoebe answered not sounding at all convincing. It was then that Chris got board of listening to a conservation he understood absolutely nothing about and ran back to rejoin his brother on the play equipment.

After a little more time playing with his brother, time which he was really enjoying because he didn't get to play with him as much anymore now Wyatt was at school, Wyatt announced that he was hungry and he was going back to the adults to get lunch.

Chris had told him he wanted to stay a bit longer and play, so Wyatt went off alone.

Chris looked over at his mommy and aunts from his position on the monkey bars. His Aunt Phoebe was talking with her arms flying everywhere and his mommy and Aunt Paige were looking at her smiling like they knew something she didn't. Adults were weird concluded Chris from that picture. He didn't understand them at them at all and hoped he never became like them.

After that thought he turned to his friend Luke who he had met a little earlier and told him he was going to have lunch. Chris tried to get himself down from the monkey bars but it was becoming quite difficult. Looking down the ground looked so far away. He was starting to wonder why he let Wyatt talk him into coming up here and didn't want to jump because he was afraid. So he tried to crawl from the middle of the monkey bars where he was situated to the side where there was a ladder he could climb down. Halfway there he started to slip and eventually lost his balance falling to the ground.

Just like the last time this had happened when he was getting the ice-cream it went in very, very slow motion. But something different happened this time as well. He felt a force of some sort pick him up and move him in the air. It was like he was flying, but he knew he wasn't controlling what he was doing and he was upset about that because he always wanted to be able to fly. But something was moving him, flying him past where he should have landed and... right into a man.

Without realising it Chris was screaming because he was really quite scarred. The man heard his scream and turned around to see a boy sailing into him. The man deftly caught him, falling to the ground in the process. Once Chris stopped moving he stopped screaming. He felt the urge to look at the bushes in the park, so he lifted his head off the man's chest and looked past him. His eyes met the most beautiful dark head woman and somehow he knew it was her who made him fly. She winked at him, smiled and waved. She then shook her head and put a finger to her lips and somehow he knew he wasn't supposed to tell anyone about it. The lady then smiled again and orbed away just like he could do. She must be an angel like daddy he thought. Suddenly a voice coming from below him pulled his green eyes back to the man he was laying atop.

"Hey little buddy, you alright?" It was then that Chris noticed the tears leaking out of his eyes. He sniffled trying to stop them and nodded slightly. The man had short dark hair and light blue eyes, which were at the time filled with immense worry. He had a kind face which drew Chris to him.

"Thankyou for catching me mister" he said softly while the man sat them back up. Now he was sitting on the grass with the man who saved him sitting across from him smiling at.

"What happened" asked the man concerned

"I fell off the monkey bars" answered Chris honestly "What's your name"

"I'm Owen" he answered then continued "You fell? That's a pretty long way to fall, are you sure you didn't fly" he grinned at Chris not knowing the truth of that statement.

"I'd like to be able to fly" answered Chris remembering his promise to the lady that he wouldn't tell. "Just like Peter Pan"

"I'm sure we all would, it'd be fun wouldn't it" said Owen. Chris nodded his head rapidly, he was really starting to like this man who saved him.

"Are you going to tell me your name little buddy, or do you want me to keep calling you little buddy" asked Owen

Chris had a good think about that question, not knowing that Owen had meant it as a joke. No one had ever given him a nickname like that before. His daddy had one for Wyatt, he called Wy or kiddo, but never one for Chris. His mommy called him a variety of different like baby and sweetie, but she called Wyatt those things too.

"I like little buddy, I don't have a nickname" answered Chris finally. Owen laughed at that, he hadn't been expecting that answer.

"Alright then, I'll call you that too, but I'd still like to know your name" he said once his laughter subsided

"It's Chris" answered Chris.

"Chris aye? Alright little buddy how about you tell me where your mommy and daddy are and we go give you back to them" said Owen.

"My mommy and aunts are over there" he said pointing to where they were sitting "I don't have a daddy, not really, he never visits me" Chris had felt it necessary to share that bit of information with Owen and did so with a childlike innocence. The information had taken Owen by surprise, he hadn't expected that to come from the little boy's mouth, but kids were unexpected, he'd known that for a long time. They alway's surprised him, they always had, he didn't have any of his own but he had a few friends who had kids.

Owen slowly pulled himself up from the grass, then reached down to pull Chris up too. Noticing that the little boy although his tears had stopped still had tracks from the old ones left on his cute little face and bent down and wiped them away. Owen then started to walk the boy toward where his mother sat, and was once again surprised when a small delicate hand reached up and took his own. He looked down to see Chris smiling up at him.

Once they reached the group of woman and another child Chris had pointed out, one of the woman looked up at them and then smiled at Chris.

"Hey sweetie. Who's your friend?" she asked smiling at Chris

"Mommy this is Owen, he saved me" answered Chris happily

"He saved you?" asked Piper looking from her son to Owen. Chris just nodded his head rapidly.

Owen decided to fill in the blanks for the confused woman before him. "He fell of the monkey bars and..." he started

"He caught me and saved me" continued Chris butting in. Chris than looked up at Owen and gave him big toothy smile, then looked back at his mother and went on "He's really nice mommy"

"Well thankyou Owen, I don't know what I would have done without my baby" answered Piper a small smile playing on her lips. Owen then looked down a Chris and raised his eyebrows.

"Hey little buddy, I thought you said you didn't have a nickname, and your mom has just called you two" Owen was amused

"Mommy and Aunt Phoebe and Aunt Paige call me all different names, their not nicknames" said Chris with wide eyes, afraid that his new friend wouldn't call him little buddy anymore.

"Ah ok I got it then" said Owen smiling, he then turned to Phoebe and Paige. "And I suppose you two are Aunt Phoebe and Aunt Paige" he asked them

"Phoebe" said Phoebe sticking up her hand up.

"Paige" said Paige repeating her sister actions. "And this is Wyatt" she added pointing to the little blonde boy who had his face stuffed full of chicken and was therefore incapable of speech.

Both girls had wicked grins on their faces because they new what their little nephew was up to. They weren't blind, the way Chris was looking continuously back and forth at his mother and at Owen with a mischievous look in his eyes and an impish grin on his face.

"Well I've got to get back to my friends" he said and then turned to Chris "Bye little buddy"

Chris face had fallen in a matter of seconds. "Why don't you eat lunch with us" he asked puppy dog eyes upon the man. Everyone else at the picnic was glad that it was Owen facing those eyes and not them, they had all been subjected to them at one time or another and found they were impossible to say no to.

It was quite obvious that Owen was having problems saying no, as his mouth was opening and closing continuously and Chris wasn't letting his gaze waver. "Is that all right?" he finally asked the girls. They nodded and the glint returned to Chris' eyes. "I just have to go tell my friends, I'll be back in a sec"

It seemed Piper was oblivious to her son's intentions and asked him, "Do you like this man do you Chris" Chris just nodded away happily

"He looked nice mommy" Wyatt said finally swallowing the food

"Well of course he was nice" said Phoebe and Paige continued for her

"Yeah you have good taste in people don't ya Chris" she said. It was then that Chris realised his aunts knew about his plan and he smiled cheekily at them.

Paige then muttered to herself "That's why he barley speaks to Leo anymore when he shows up"

"Paige!" Piper scolded "Don't say things like that in front of them" Paige was about to respond when Owen arrived back. She watched as Chris took his hand and led him to a spot just beside his mom.

"You can sit next to mommy" said Chris smiling away. He then tried to push Owen down to the ground.

Phoebe and Paige looked at each other trying to stifle there giggles, both thinking how adorable their nephew was.

"Chris, don't hurt him" Piper said. The statement sounded stern but the amusement in her eyes gave away what she really thought of the situation.

"I didn't catch your name before, I only know you as mommy" said Owen smiling at Piper.

Piper laughed "It's Piper" she said

"Well Piper I have to say you have an absolutely adorable son" said Owen

"Hey what about me" asked Wyatt. Owen smiled at him and then said.

"Well you're cute too, but I don't know you yet, not having had the privilege of saving you" he winked at Chris and smiled warmly at Wyatt.

The afternoon went well, everyone got to know Owen and found that he was a great person. He was an architect with a passion for other kinds of art as well. He loved kids, he was single and Phoebe and Paige had concluded a real catch by Chris. By the end of the day they were both convinced that their nephew was a genius. Piper and Owen were getting on like a house on fire, talking away about all different kinds of things but still finding the time to talk to everyone else and play with Wyatt and Chris. They both knew their nephew was onto to something.

Chris had a great afternoon. His mommy was happy and Owen, him and Wyatt had tickle wars, it was great. His aunts had congratulated him for been so smart and he and Wyatt had played a little more together, cherishing their time before Wyatt had to go back to magic school and only be home at night.

When it came time for them to leave Owen and Piper had exchanged phone numbers, using the excuse of the kids as to why they were getting together again. They were fooling themselves with that excuse but not anyone else. That afternoon everyone went home immensely happy.

A/N: Please review, I hope you like my latest instalment.


	5. Christmas Eve

Disclaimer: I don't own Charmed or have anything to do with it

Twas the night before Christmas and all over the house creatures were stirring. Upstairs Phoebe Halliwell was running about like a chicken with her head cut off trying to find some last minute things for the celebration that was to take place the next day. Down stairs Paige Halliwell was trying her best not to mess up the food she had been put in charge of cooking and on the middle floor of the house Owen Johnson was trying to get two very over-excited boys out of the bathroom and into bed while Piper Halliwell stood before her mirror in her bedroom getting ready for her shopping trip she was supposed to have left for half an hour ago.

Five year old Chris and his seven year old brother Wyatt were having great fun running circles around Owen while he half heartedly yelled at them, telling them to calm down and let him dry them off. They had just gotten out of their bubble bath and were jumping up and down dancing to the Christmas CD their mom had put on earlier. It was now playing their favourite song Rudolf the Red Nose Reindeer something which just made the fact that Christmas was going to be tomorrow become all the more exciting and made them all the more crazier.

Suds covered the two boy's bodies and by doing what they were, they were making a horrendous mess but Owen didn't have it in him to get truly upset with them. It was Christmas Eve they had every right to be excited. This was his first Christmas with them, he had known them a year and a half now and loved these boys an incredible amount. He hadn't been able to make it to the last Halliwell Christmas because he had to go to his parent's house in Portland for the holidays, but he had promised Chris and Wyatt that he'd be here for this one so here he was.

Piper then entered the bathroom and her eyebrows immediately rose as if awaiting an explanation.

"What's this?" she asked her boys sternly but she did get a sparkle in her eye from the sight. "You two are going to drive Owen away if you show him your true evil selves he seems to think doesn't exist" Piper added on while glancing at Owen with a smile playing on her lips.

"Aw come on Piper, its Christmas let them have a little fun" said Owen while Wyatt and Chris looked up at her smiling innocently. "Besides" he continued "you're the one who put on the CD that makes them go nuts" Piper laughed at that then said to Owen

"Can I see you in the hall for a sec?"

"Sure" Owen said getting up off the floor beside the bathtub and following her out.

"Ok I'm ready to go, I think. Are you sure you're going to be fine with them?"

"Of course I am Piper, I've looked after them by myself before and I only came out with one black eye one time remember" he said smiling at her "Besides Phoebe and Paige are still here and they have to go to bed soon anyway"

"Yeah ok, I was just making sure, I've really got to go, the shops won't stay open forever"

"Ok bye honey" he said giving her a quick kiss "and don't forget to stop by mine to feed the..." he only got that far when Piper's hand pressed against his mouth.

"You two" she said looking at the small brown and blonde heads sticking out of the bathroom door, "Back in there now!" They giggled and went back in.

"I know, don't worry I will" said Piper. She then leaned in to kiss him again, quite passionately this time and after a minute pulled back with a soft moan "I've really got to go. Love you Owen"

"Love you too Piper, don't stay out too late Ok" she nodded with a killer smile on her face getting what he was hinting about.

"Bye boys" she said with a quick glance and smile past where Owen was standing before turning around and leaving.

"Bye mommy" Those voices were a lot closer then they should have been. Owen spun back around to see them standing in the hall right behind him. Chris and Wyatt then started giggling again.

"Do you really love mommy Owen?" asked Wyatt

"Yes of course I do" he said before quickly wrapping the towel in his hand around Chris's small body, finally controlling one of them. "Wyatt can you please get your towel and get into your bedroom"

"Ok Owen" he said with an over dramatic sigh

Once the boys had been clothed, had their teeth brushed, said their goodnights to their aunts and had their Christmas story, Owen sat them both atop Chris' bed and pulled a chair in front of the bed to sit on and told them they needed to have an important talk.

"You two like me right?" he asked looking at them with an odd look in his eyes. Both boys nodded wondering what was going on.

"Right and you like spending time with me" again he was met with two nodding heads.

"Well how would you like it if I was to become part of the family?" he asked hesitantly

"What do you mean, like become our daddy" asked Chris confused.

"No, no not that little buddy, Leo's your daddy" he said then added as an after thought "even though I've never met the guy and from what I here he doesn't act it"

"Well then what you mean" It was Wyatt who spoke this time.

"What I mean is what if I asked your mommy to marry me, to become my wife" said Owen looking at them hopefully.

Chris thought this was a brilliant idea but before he said anything he looked over at Wyatt to see what he thought. Wyatt knew their daddy better then Chris did so he might still want their mommy and daddy together, but he didn't have to worry about that because Wyatt had a big smile on his face, so Chris let his break out.

"Yeah that'd be great" said Wyatt excitedly

"And Chris what about you" though the expression on his face already told the answer.

"Yeah, It'd make mommy really happy" he said

"And your both fine with it?" They nodded happily.

"Oh good, but now listen you have to keep this between us ok, don't tell anyone because it's got to be a surprise"

"Ok Owen" said Wyatt

"We promise" added Chris,

"Thanks little buddy, thanks kiddo" he said ruffling their hair

Chris had been smiling happily but suddenly his expression changed into one that looked like he was in very deep thought, then he got a look of resolve and spoke again.

"Wyatt" he said in what he thought was a whisper, though Owen could hear him perfectly "We have to tell him the secret"

"What secret" Wyatt whispered back

"You know the magic secret"

"No Chris we can't, mommy will tell him" By now Owen was very confused

"What are you two talking about" he asked baffled. They ignored him and continued to argue.

"We can't"

"Can too"

"No we can't Chris, mommy would get mad"

"Yes we can, and no she won't" whined Chris

"You're so stubborn"

"Am not" he paused for a second then continued "What's stubborn mean" he asked with wide eyes

"Um, I don't know I heard Aunt Phoebe say that to mommy once" said Wyatt with a shrug

"Ok, but we have to" Chris continued

"No we don't" Owen got fed up of listening to the argument and lifted his hands to put one over each of their mouths.

"Either, one of you tell me what's going on or, stop arguing and I'll ask your mother when she gets home" he lowed his hands slowly making sure they didn't keep going.

"Were magic" Chris blurted out.

"Chris!" Wyatt yelled. Chris just looked over at him innocently. Owen was shocked.

"What, what are you talking about"

"Nothing" Wyatt said instantly. But Chris spoke right after him.

"Were magic, we can do magic"

"Oh you mean like magic tricks" said Owen laughing a little

"No" Wyatt sighed finally giving into his brothers will "Real magic"

"Is this a joke?" asked a very confused Owen

"I think we should show him Wy" said Chris

"Ok, watch" Wyatt then orbed out and then back onto the other side of Chris. Owen blinked rapidly not sure he believed what he just saw. Chris sensing this did the same thing.

"See, were magical" he said when he came back into vision. Owen was incredibly confused and scarred now; he had no idea what to do. After a minute of rapidly looking back and forth between where the boys used to be and where they now were he finally got himself out of his stupor and jumped up off the chair.

"I've, ah, I have to go somewhere" he said quickly before leaving the room.

"See I told you we shouldn't have told him" bragged Wyatt but Chris wasn't listening.

"Is he going to hate me now?" he asked Wyatt, his bottom lip trembling.

"No Chris he won't hate you, come on we have to go catch him" Chris nodded softly and followed Wyatt out of the room.

When they got downstairs they heard the front door slam and saw their Aunt Paige come running out of the kitchen. She looked at the two boys then asked,

"What'd you do?"

"He does hate me" said Chris softly while looking at the door.

"Hey guys, come on tell me. Owen just ran into the kitchen scarred out of his whits saying he had to go then ran out" said Paige worriedly, "What'd you do" she repeated

"We could get Uncle Les to talk to him. He did the same thing last when he found out" said Wyatt still ignoring Paige, but she got all the info she needed from that last statement.

"You didn't?" she asked eyes wide.

"He did" they both said at the same time pointing at one another.

"Oh my god, why'd you do that for" asked Paige faintly

"We can't tell you, it's a secret" said Chris honestly

"Chris! Wyatt! Tell me now!" demanded Paige

"He wants to become part of the family" Chris relented

"Well we can't make him magical" said Paige confused

"He wants to marry mommy" Wyatt clarified for her

"Ohhh! I see" she said understanding washing over her, "That's brilliant and it's about time, but you shouldn't have told him"

"It was Chris's idea" said Wyatt hoping to escape punishment

"That you followed. Go upstairs to Aunt Phoebe and I'll go next door to see if I can get Les to talk to him, ok?" They nodded and went on their way.

Later that night Owen came back to the manor after a long talk with Leslie about the girls. He went to talk to Wyatt and Chris about everything but when he got there found that they were asleep. After a minute or two of debate in his head, Owen decided to wake them up because it was rather important.

"Hey you two" he said softly waking them up "Can I talk to you for a minute" They both nodded sleepily and sat up. Owen went over to Chris and picked him up off his bed and carried him over to Wyatt's then sat down letting Chris sit on his lap.

"I'm sorry about before, I was just scarred and shocked I suppose. I mean what would you do if I told you I had two heads or something like that?" Chris and Wyatt giggled at that thought. "I'm really sorry ok?" he said softly stroking Chris's head

"It's all right" said Chris while yawning

"Yeah" continued Wyatt "Just you can't tell anyone ok"

"Yeah I know. You're uncle Les explained everything to me"

"And you still love mommy" asked Chris

"Of course I do. Nothing can change that" answered Owen honestly "You two have to keep the secret still alright, a bit better then you have been would be good too. I'm going to ask her tomorrow night, now you two better get back to sleep, the sooner you get to sleep, the sooner it'll be Christmas"

"Ok. Goodnight Owen, I love you" said Chris quietly

"I love you too little buddy" he said as he carried a very sleepy Chris back over to his bed.

"And me?" asked Wyatt quietly

"And I love you too kiddo, Goodnight" He walked back over to Wyatt's bed and planted a soft kiss on his forehead. Just then Phoebe stuck her head in the door

"I've got to go home, Patty's giving Les trouble. See you tomorrow boys"

"Bye Aunt Phoebe" they echoed "And Owen don't get mommy mad ok" said Wyatt sleepily

"Why's that?"

"Because she can blow things up" stated Chris right before nodding off to sleep. Owen looked at Phoebe with wide eyes but she just patted him on the shoulder and left the room.

A/N: Thankyou everyone for all your great reviews and please keep them coming.


	6. A new daddy, or not

Disclaimer: I don't own charmed or anything to do with it.

Chapter Six:

Chris woke up the next morning extremely happy. He was lying in his mommy's bed in between her and Owen. His brother was asleep on his mommy's other side and Owen and his mommy were still asleep. He had had a bad dream the night before and had woken Wyatt up about it so they both crept into their mom's room and slept the rest of the night in there. Owen had one arm around Chris and his other hand was holding Piper's, they were like a real family.

A couple of minutes after he woke up he saw someone else sneaking through his mommy's door and into the room. It turned out to be Aunt Paige.

"Happy Christmas Aunt Paige" said Chris softly when she was all the way in the room.

"Happy Christmas to you too Chrissy" she responded. Paige then pulled the camera in her hand up to her face and took a picture of the scene before her.

"Sorry, had to do that" she said "You all just look so cute together"

"Can I have one of those pictures" asked Chris

"Of course you can, I'll even get it framed for you. I'm going to go make breakfast now, come down when you're ready ok and don't wake your mommy and Owen up yet they went to bed really late"

"Ok Aunt Paige" and with that Paige left the room. Chris then unwrapped himself from Owen and crawled over the top of his mommy to where Wyatt was sleeping.

"Wyatt, Wyatt, wake up" he said shaking him. Once Wyatt opened his eyes Chris continued, "Come on Wy, get up, its Christmas" At those words Wyatt eyes went from only been opened a crack to completely opened and very wide.

"Let's wake mommy and Owen up, I wanna open presents" said Wyatt excitedly

"Aunt Paige said we can't" said Chris "Let's go have breakfast then do it ok"

"Yeah let's go" said Wyatt his excitement still there

Half an hour later Wyatt and Chris were fed and dressed and had finally convinced Paige into letting them wake the two sleepy heads up. When they arrived back at the room they paused for a second and took in the picture before them. Owen now had has arms wrapped around Piper and his chin was resting on the top of her head, while Piper head was on his chest and her left arm draped lazily across his body.

"Do you think mommy's going to marry Owen" asked Chris looking up at his brother.

"Yeah, mommy loves him" answered Wyatt confidently

"Hold on a sec k, I'll be right back" said Chris before running from the room. He returned a minute later dragging Paige along with him. "Take another picture Aunt Paige"

"You've got a good eye there Chris" she said before doing as he commanded "Now are you going to wake em up or do I have to" She said before leaving the room.

With that said Chris and Wyatt ran the rest of the way into the room and climbed up on top of the bed and started jumping on the two adults.

"Mommy, Owen, Get Up! Get Up! It's Christmas" yelled Wyatt as loud as possible and Chris soon joined in, making sure they heard him.

As soon as the yelling had started Piper and Owen's eyes had flown open startled by the noise. They both groaned and sat up.

"What are you two doing up so early" asked Piper while trying to stifle a yawn.

"It's not early mommy, it's Christmas" said Wyatt loudly

"Christmas right yeah, I knew that" she mumbled still trying to wake up.

"Get up, you two are been lazy" said Chris loudly

"Just give us a minute" Owen yawned. He then caught the still jumping Wyatt and pulled him down into the bed and then did the same to Chris.

"Can we have a presents now" asked Wyatt looking at Piper hopefully

"No not yet. You have to wait for your grandpa, we're opening them all together" said Piper. She didn't dare remind them that Leo was coming

"Grandpa's coming" asked Chris, a smile spreading across his face, "Cool, I can tell him the secret" He looked over at Owen who was shaking his head rapidly.

"What secret Chris?" Piper asked

"I can't tell you mommy, it will ruin the surprise" he answered while grinning at Owen "Come on Wyatt lets go play"

Once the boys had left the room Owen turned to Piper. "I've got to go home and get all my presents for everyone. I thought you weren't going to let me stay the night"

"Things change" she said smiling at him, "And no you don't, I got everything from there last night and dropped it off at Phoebe's before I came home"

"You're a good woman" he stated before leaning over and giving her a quick kiss just below the temple.

"Chris, take the other side. I'm going round the front" said Wyatt in a business like voice.

"K Wy, See you in a bit" answered Chris. They had been allowed to open one present each of their mom's choice and had both gotten a police set and walkie talkies which they were now using to play cops and robbers. Chris rounded the bend and decided to go down stairs and see if he could catch anyone down there.

Coming down the stairs slowly he saw his mommy walk to the front door and open it. Still been stealth, he crouched low and hid on the stairwell waiting to see who was on the other side, and once the figure walked through the doorway and into Chris's site he immediately forgot about the game.

"Grandpa" he yelled bounding down the remaining steps.

"Christopher" exclaimed the greying grandpa "Merry Christmas, how have you been?" he asked

"I'm good grandpa. Did you bring me a present" asked Chris while hugging him

"You know I did Chris" answered Victor as he bent down to pick the little boy up.

"Dad" Piper interrupted "This is Owen" she said gestering to Owen who was standing beside her.

"I've heard a lot about you" said Victor while shaking his hand "I think the first time was when Chris here told me about you saving him, he said you were awesome, a new word I think"

"Oh he said that did he" said Owen smiling at Chris "It's nice to meet you to sir" Owen returned the shake

"Call me Victor"

"Will do" he smiled his Owen smile at him, then turned to Piper "Honey I've got to go home, you left one thing their last night that I really need"

"Did I? When will you be back?" she asked

"Not long, it was just a small thing, I'll be in and out" Piper gave him a quick peck on the cheek and went into the kitchen. Owen went to say something to Chris and Victor but Chris spoke first.

"Grandpa, do you want to hear a secret"

"You know I love secret's Chris. What is it?" beside them Owen was shaking his head at Chris trying to make him keep his mouth shut. Chris glanced at him and smiled cheekily before orbing him and his grandfather out of the room.

Just then Piper returned to the scene "Where did they go and why are you still here"

"Ah. I'll tell you later" answered Owen right before running upstairs after Chris, leaving a confused Piper in his wake.

Owen looked in every room he passed for Chris and Victor and finally found them in the attic, a part of the house he had rarely been in.

"...and he's going to ask mommy tonight" was the first thing Owen heard when he stepped into the room.

"Is that so" said Victor. Owen then cleared his throat to make his presence known, "Ah Owen, my grandson was just filling me in on your plans"

"Yes well I was going to ask your permission first, like I did theirs but ah..." he trailed off

"But Chris got to me first" helped Victor, ruffling Chris's hair.

"Yeah exactly" he then turned to Chris "and you young man need to learn how to keep secrets better"

"Sorry Owen" said Chris looking up at him with his puppy dog eyes

"It's ok little buddy, I think I know how you can make it up to me" he paused for a moment then continued "Can you take me home quickly, doing that thing you do"

"Ok, I've orbed to your house before but mommy always catches me and brings me back home" said Chris "Hold my hand ok" Owen took Chris's hand then looked to Victor

"Can you not mention this to Piper, I've gotta go get the ring" he asked hopefully "Oh and if Piper asks I don't know a thing about magic" he added

"I didn't see a thing" Victor said as he walked out of the room. Before he left he turned back to Owen and smiled "You have my blessing, I think, if you don't I'll let you know"

Ten minutes later Owen and Chris were back in the attic with the ring safely inside Owen's pocket. Owen wasn't feeling the best after the orbing; it wasn't exactly how he expected it to be. Wyatt and Victor were in the attic when the got back waiting for them. Victor was laughing at the expression on Owen's face.

"Don't worry, you'll get used to it" said Victor chuckling

"Really, because I have my doubts" answered Owen still slightly green in the face.

"Defiantly, I hated it until my grandsons came along and orbed me somewhere every time a gave one of them a hug" answered Victor "I got used to it"

"Now you know bout magic I'm going to show you so many cool things Owen" said Chris excitedly "Mommy wouldn't let me be..." Chris stopped talking suddenly, his eyes went wide and his whole body went still.

Next to him Wyatt's face also changed, except his lit up while Chris's went masked. Wyatt quickly orbed away, Chris knew exactly where he was off to.

"What's up Chris" asked Owen concerned. When Chris didn't look like answering his grandpa decided to speak for him.

"I'd say he just felt Leo come in" said Victor quietly

"Felt?" asked Owen, eyebrows raised

"Don't ask" Owen nodded, deciding to focus on the boy.

"Don't you want to go see your daddy Chris? He doesn't come very often you should spend time with him while you can" said Owen bending down to Chris's level.

Chris nodded slightly and took Owen and his grandpa by the hand, leading them downstairs.

"Why don't you just orb Chris" asked Victor

"Cause he'll get angry at me if I do, he always gets angry at me" said Chris softly

"But Wyatt did" said Victor matter-of-factly

"Wyatt never does anything wrong" stated Chris

Once they reached the kitchen where Chris knew Leo was situated Chris stopped them by the door, not wanting to go through.

"You'll have to tell me all about that later Wy" Leo was talking to his son with a small smile on his face while Piper looked on sadly "I've got to go now bye"

"But daddy aren't you going to talk to Chris first" said Wyatt his eyebrows creased in confusion

"I don't have time. Remember to call me anytime you need me to heal you or something ok" Wyatt nodded eyes on the floor

"Chris too?" he asked not looking up

"Chris has you to take care of him, someone needs to look after you my little twice blessed" Leo then ruffled his sons hair and began to orb away.

"Leo wait there's something I've got to..." he was gone "talk to you about" she trailed off to herself. Leo didn't know about Owen yet, he didn't even know there was an Owen. He was never around long enough for Piper to tell him and it was really starting to tick her off that he wouldn't have a proper conversation with her.

Just outside the door of the kitchen Chris was doing his best to hold in tears that were dying to roll down his cheeks. He felt Owens hand squeeze his tightly and he looked up at the man he loved deeply. Things were on Owen's face that Chris had never seen there before. First of all there was shock and outrage, but most of all there was anger, deep scathing anger. Chris was very glad that he wasn't the one who caused it.

Owen was at a loss as to what to say so he got his emotions in check and bent down, scooped the little boy into his arms and walked into the kitchen with him. As he entered Piper looked at him in surprise and she also looked very worried and had a feeling it wasn't only about he son.

"Did you see that" she asked, Owen realised what was bothering her.

"Heard" he answered "Where did he go?" he asked

"Ah, out the side door here" she said indicating the door on her left

"I can't believe him, how could he do that to Chris, say that about Chris. I know you've said he's messed up but I'd really love to put him in his place you know" said Owen, voice full of emotion.

"I know Owen, believe me when I say that" said Piper

"Don't be mad Owen, I don't like it when you're mad" Chris mumbled into Owen's shoulder.

"I'm not mad at you little buddy" said Owen soothingly. He gave Piper a last look then took a very quiet Wyatt's hand and led the boy's out of the room. He was going to have a talk with Chris to try and cheer him. Once they were gone Victor turned to Piper

"You found a good one with him Piper, hang onto him"

"I know that dad, I'm glad you approve" she said tiredly. Piper was rubbing her forehead completely sick of Leo and his departures.

"I don't know why you put up with him honey" said Victor concerned for his daughter and grandsons

"I don't have a choice, he's their father and always will be. I divorced him, not them" Piper sighed "Now can we just forgot about Leo for today and enjoy Christmas"

"So his not coming back" off her look he continued "Sure, whatever you say Piper"

The day continued well. By the time Owen and the boys returned to where the rest of the family was situated Chris and Wyatt had been cheered up and Phoebe, her husband Les and six month old daughter Patty had come over from next door and the present opening began. Piper had been a bit disappointed when she only received a card from Owen but once she read the inside where it had told her there would be a surprise later she was fine.

Wyatt and Chris got a variety of things and were very satisfied by the time they had unwrapped everything. They had each gotten one gift they weren't to sure about though, that been a piece of cloth from their mom and Owen, but when everyone else had finished unwrapping their presents the reason for the pieces of cloth became apparent. They were getting one last surprise.

Owen and Les covered their eyes with the cloth and led the two blind boys into the backyard. Chris and Wyatt stood there not having a clue what was going on. After a couple of seconds waiting Chris felt something really weird, a wet thing touched his hand.

"Wyatt, what was that" asked Chris nervously

"What was what Chris?" asked Wyatt but before Chris could answer Wyatt gave a surprised yelp. "Oh I just felt it I don't know Chris"

"Ok you two can take off your blindfolds now" said Owen trying to contain laughter. They did so immediately and came face to face with an adorable puppy dog.

"A puppy" exclaimed Chris

"Yes, he is yours and Wyatt's, you two have to look after him ok" said Piper

"Oh we'll take the best care of him, won't we Chris" answered Wyatt

"Yeah, what's his name mommy" asked Chris

"Well you two have to pick one, that can be your first job" said Piper

After much debate they finally decided on Frankie. Frankie was a beautiful yellow Labrador, with a very sweet nature. They had decided on Frankie after a character in one of their favourite story books called Franklin. Wyatt and Chris both loved this dog and he took up their time for the rest of the day.

By nightfall Wyatt and Chris were ready to proclaim that Christmas as the best they had ever had, though they did that every Christmas. They were now in their room and their mommy was reading them a story before they had to go to sleep. After much begging they had been allowed to have Frankie sleep in their room and he was now curled up on the end of Chris's bed.

On their way upstairs Owen had taken the boys aside and told them to not let Piper go downstairs until he came up to get her and they were doing their job well. Piper was just finishing her sixth story when Owen entered the room with a mysterious smile on his face.

"Boys don't you think you've had enough books for tonight" he said winking at them from behind Piper's back.

"Yeah ok" said Wyatt smiling

"Why do they listen to you" asked Piper wondering why they hadn't accepted the exact same claim which came from her two books ago.

"I'm a charming one Piper" answered Owen simply

"Oh sure you are"

"Come on lets let these two get some sleep and I might give you your surprise" Piper's eyes lit up

"Goodnight baby" she said kissing Chris's forehead. She then picked Wyatt up and took him to his bed repeating the actions. Owen said his goodnights and one very excited and one very nervous adult left the room.

"Do you wanna follow em Chris" asked Wyatt in a whisper

"Yeah I wanna see what mommy says" answered Chris also whispering

Wyatt and Chris hopped out of their beds and very quietly orbed down into the kitchen.

"Where are they" asked Chris. Wyatt closed his eyes for a second then answered

"Follow me" They crept out of the kitchen into a very dark house. Chris followed Wyatt into the lounge room where there were lots of little flickers of light. They stopped at the entry way and poked their heads around the door way.

The sight they were met with was truly beautiful. There were candles everywhere making the room glow and Owen was on bended knee staring up at Piper with hopeful eyes who sat on the couch stunned but smiling brightly but the boys didn't notice the scenery at all. All that they saw was Owen and their mommy and how happy she looked.

"Will you be my wife" they heard him ask. Piper opened her mouth to say 'Yes' but suddenly stopped.

"You hesitated" he said eyes dropping to the floor

"No Owen its not what you think, its just, well, there's a lot you don't know about me" he understood why she was worrying and silently thanked Chris and Wyatt for giving him the heads up last night. He looked back up into Pipers brown orbs and continued

"Piper, I love you. I know almost everything there is to know about you and trust me when I say that there is nothing about you that can change the fact that I love you" he spoke softly and convincingly

"But..."

"No buts Piper, it's a fact that I won't let be changed, even if you told me you were... I don't know... a goblin or something" he smiled reassuringly at her. Piper let a moment for the words to sink in and then got a look of resolve

"Then yes. Yes Owen there's nothing I want more then to be your wife" her bright smile was back and her eyes were shinning through her tears. Owen leapt up off the ground at that news, pulled Piper up with him and kissed her deeply.

After a few minutes they heard giggling coming from the side of the room and pulled apart unhappy their moment was interrupted. But the smiles immediately fixed themselves back to their features when they saw who it was.

"Sorry mommy" said Wyatt still giggling

"It's alright baby, come here" Wyatt and Chris ran to where the adults were.

"Guess what" asked Piper

"What?" Chris asked overdramatically, the boy really needed lessons in lying

"Owen and me are going to get married, he's going to be your step-daddy" said Piper not noticing Chris's slip.

"You said you weren't going to be our daddy" said Chris to Owen confused

"I'm not your daddy Chris, step-dads are different. Leo's still going to be your dad" said Owen softly. Chris's eyes which had lit up at the suggestion fell further down then they had been when Leo had said those things about him.

"I don't have a daddy" Chris mumbled tears falling out of his eyes while he walked away

"Chris..." called Piper but he kept walking "Your dad left you a present, I forgot to tell you it's on the kitchen table" Chris stopped walking at that, he summoned the present to him and orbed upstairs. Wyatt followed but not before telling Owen.

"Our daddy isn't nice to Chris like he is to me, you should be his daddy Owen, he loves you" He then orbed out after Chris.

Piper then turned to Owen with wide eyes. She was scared about what his reaction would be.

"You're not reacting, why aren't you reacting" asked Piper anxiously

"They told me last night when I asked them if they would let me marry you" he answered still staring at where Chris had orbed out from

"Why didn't you tell me" she exclaimed still looking at him with wide, Owen opened his mouth to explain but Piper held up he hand "It's not important at the moment, tell me later" Owen nodded. "Look I'll go talk with him, you go next door where I'm assuming you sent everyone and bring them back for celebrations ok" she said the smile returning to her face. Owen smiled at that too. He turned back to Piper and kissed her one last time before following out her orders.

A/N: Thankyou for all your great reviews so far, please keep them coming. And I'm sorry if I wasn't clear enough about the Phoebe Les and Patty thing, this should have cleared up the speculation.


	7. Celebrations and Changes

Disclaimer: I don't own charmed or have anything to do with it.

Step, together, step. Those were the thoughts running through Six year old Chris's mind as he walked. After all this was a very important walk and he didn't want to do it wrong, it had to be perfect. This whole day had to be perfect because it was his mommy's special day, and he secretly thought it was his special day to.

Christopher Perry Halliwell was a very important person at the moment, he was a page boy at his mommy's wedding and he was taking his job very seriously. Holding firmly onto his little Cousin Patty's hand he made his way done the isle. To his left was his new step family. There was Grandma Sofia and Grandpa Joss, Uncle Greg and his new little step-cousin Luke. On his other side were all his Grandpa Victor, Nick and all his mommy's friends. Aunt Phoebe, Aunt Paige and Wyatt were walking behind him coming down the isle.

Up the front next to the priest Owen was standing with a bright smile on his face. Leslie and John, one of Owen's friends was standing beside him. It was a big wedding in a beautiful church, just what Piper had always dreamed of. Most of the family couldn't come because well they were dead but dinner last night had more then made up for that.

Flashback:::::::::::::

"Piper, they can't come you know that" said Nick the Charmed Ones Whitelighter of five years. "Your wedding is out in the open, you know it's impossible" he sighed

"I don't care Nick, I don't care about rules, I want my family at my wedding" said Piper desperately

Owen, Chris and Wyatt were sitting across the room silently watching the argument as it heated up. Nick had told Piper he'd do everything he could to get her Grams, her mother and her sister Prue at the wedding. Piper hadn't had a visit from Prue since she had died and had decided her wedding which was the next day would be the perfect time for her first visit.

"The rest of the world doesn't get dead family members at their weddings Piper, why should you be any different"

"Maybe because I know it's possible and maybe because I save that damn world every week" said Piper fiercely

"You don't get rewards from that job, you knew that when you committed yourself to it. Give it up Piper, they can't go" said Nick with a sense of finality in his tone. Piper chose to ignore that tone though and continued arguing

"We should get rewards. Why can't they come, just give me one good reason" said Piper

"Ok, this is a direct quote from those Blessed elders" he said his tone dripping with sarcasm at the word blessed, he cleared his throat and continued in a mock superior voice "Piper and her sister's have had enough rewards for their time, she shall not be granted her wish on the grounds that there are many people at this wedding of hers who know who those people are and know that they should be dead. Granting her this wish would risk exposure" Nick finished and looked at Piper knowingly

"I'm sorry Nick, I know you don't like them as much as we don't" sighed Piper "Hold on" she said suddenly "Does Leo know yet, he's never around long enough for me to tell him" Leo didn't even know that there was a new someone in her life, let alone she was about to remarry. She had tried to tell him many times but he was always busy with Wyatt or orbed out in the middle of her attempts.

"No he doesn't and it's alright" he said with a half smile "I do have one more idea though, when's dinner?" he asked

"Two hours" said Piper confused

"Set a plate for me will you, I'll be back, bye" and with that he orbed out. Piper turned to her family, he brow creased in confusion

"What do you think that was about" she asked

"I don't know honey, you know I'm new at this, ask him when he gets back k" said Owen. Piper smiled softly in acknowledgment at her finance

"Why don't you three go play or something. Everyone's coming for dinner tonight I've really got to get cooking"

"Sorry my family can't make it tonight sweetie, but their flight is just getting in far too late" he said apologetically. He then turned to the boys and said "Come on, you two heard your mother she doesn't want us around" Wyatt and Chris looked at each other and shared a mischievous smile before orbing out. Owen turned to Piper

"Hide and seek" they said together and shared a smile "It'd be easier if they couldn't orb out just as I was about to find them, it's kind of unfair" said Owen

"You know you love it and don't worry about your family, its fine they will be at the wedding that's what really matters. Now go, you got the message before, bugger off" she said shooing him out of the room

"I love you too" called Owen over his shoulder as he left the room.

A lot had changed in the nine moths they had been engaged for. First of all Owen had moved into the manor. He had kept his apartment and they were renting it out as a second income. He and Piper had become even closer than they already were and he had even developed a closer bond with the boys.

Paige had moved out of the manor and then four weeks later moved straight back in after finding out what her boyfriend of a year and a half really was, a jerk, something which the rest of the family already new. She hadn't moved back into her bedroom though. Owen had gone down to the basement and made it like a mini apartment, his architect skills had come in handy there. So Paige now lived in there, it was like she had her own home, the door had a lock and all, but she was still in the main part of the house for most of the day.

Phoebe and Les had decided they wanted another child but were having a hard time conceiving, which is quite weird since Patty came into the world very easily. One night of rekindelence between Leslie and Phoebe was all it had taken to bring that girl into the world. Patty had turned out to be a great thing though. She had brought Leslie and Phoebe together and they eventually married and were now in bliss hoping for news of another baby. Leslie and Phoebe were meant to be, they understood each other to well not to be. They were an excellent couple, one which Owen hoped he and Piper could be like. They had already named their next child, convinced it was going to be a girl, Prudence Melinda, stealing Piper's baby's name.

Piper and Owen who had planned to marry in another six months had pushed up their wedding because of some news they had received about three months ago. Piper was pregnant again. She hadn't wanted to be showing too much for the big day so the wedding had been moved forward. Owen was ecstatic when he found out about the baby. He loved Wyatt and Chris like they were his own but he now he was going to have a baby that he could raise from the second that he or she left the womb. He couldn't wait.

Two hours passed and the guests arrived. Phoebe and Les from next door, Paige from downstairs and Victor came for the evening meal. Dinner was just about to be served when Nick orbed back down into the living room.

"Piper" he shouted, walking through the house looking for everyone.

"We're in here" called Piper from the dining room. When he reached the room he looked at the family with a big smile on his face.

"I have a wedding present for you Piper, and you too I suppose Owen" he said his smile getting wider.

"Hello Nicolas" said Victor in a cool voice interrupting him

"Victor how many times do I have to tell you I'm not in love with Piper, you have nothing to worry about, besides she's getting married tomorrow"

"Your charges been married have never seemed to stop your kind before" said Victor

"Oh dad lighten up, Owen has nothing to worry about" said Piper casting a small glance at Owen and smiling at him.

"And besides if mom and Sam had never gotten together your favourite sort of step-daughter wouldn't have been born and that would truly be horrific right" said Paige brightly. Victor smiled warmly at Paige and said

"Well I suppose it wasn't all that bad now was it"

"Good that's settled now what about my surprise" asked Piper turning her attention back to Nick

"Right that" he paused for a second then waved his arms "Happy Wedding Piper" Once those words left his mouth bright swirling lights appeared beside him and Penny Halliwell and Patty Halliwell stepped out of them. "Sorry Piper, they wouldn't let Prue come" Piper ignored the last comment deciding not to focus on the negative and leapt to her feet

"Mom, Grams" she exclaimed happily

"Hello sweetie" said Grams

"Mommy" Phoebe was right behind Piper and Paige right behind her.

"Why aren't you allowed to come tomorrow" asked Piper

"Oh Piper honey, don't worry about it of course we will be there, just as ghosts not humans, the rest of the church won't be able to see us" said Grams waving her off

After greetings and introductions between the two and Owen were made Grams waved her magic hand and created enough food and space for everyone. They all sat down and had a great meal. Nick was thanked over and over again and Victor even warmed up to him slightly.

After dinner was over they all moved out into the family room. Owen was getting to know Grams and Patty better and was getting their approval for Piper. Patty was also spending as much time as she could with her two grandsons. She rarely ever saw them. After many story's Chris got tired of a woman's name been mentioned constantly when he didn't even know who the woman was, so he spoke up.

"Whose Prue mommy" he asked

"Sweetie you know who Prue is, you know your Aunt Prue from all my stories" said Piper looking over at her son

"Oh, what's she look like" he asked

"Hold on, I'll be right back ok?"

"Ok mommy"

"Aunt Prue is mom's big sister remember Chris. She died before we were born" said Wyatt to his little brother

"Yeah I remember" he said yawning

"It's getting late shouldn't you two be getting to bed. It's going to be a big day tomorrow" said Patty

"Grandma we're big boys now, we can stay up late" said Chris, though his drooping eyelids gave away the truth

"Oh is that right" she said smiling at the little boy. She then turned to Victor who was standing on her left holding her hand "I can't get used to been called grandma, look wise I'm the same age as Piper"

"Wish I had the same problem" mumbled Victor

"Ever since Chris started at school he's been a big boy, haven't you Chris" said Owen, Chris nodded in answer. After that statement Piper came walking back into the room.

"Wyatt, Chris, have a look at this" she said sitting between them on the sofa. Piper had a photo album in her hand and was flipping through it. Finally she chose a page around the middle and pointed to a very pretty lady "This is your Aunt Prue"

"She's real pretty mom" said Wyatt. Chris was looking at the picture with his brows creased.

"What's wrong Chris" asked Phoebe

"She made me fly" he said quietly to himself. Patty and Penny's eyes both went wide at that comment

"What was that little buddy" asked Owen

"Patty, come look at Aunt Prue" he said ignoring the question. His little cousin walked unsteadily over to him and grasped onto the couch.

"Ohhh Pwue" said Patty as best she could

"There's other pictures of her all over the house Chris, I've sent them before" said Wyatt

"Yes there is but I like this one the best" said Piper. The photo they were looking at was one Piper herself had taken. She had gotten hold of one of Prue's cameras when they first came and taken a snap shot of her. Prue had later developed it in her dark room and it came up beautifully.

"I would have liked to meet her" said Paige "Why couldn't she come tonight"

"The elders said no, rather abruptly too, it was quite strange" said Nick

"She was ahh- busy tonight girls, she couldn't make it" Grams said when the three girls turned to her for answers

"I don't think I'll ever understand been busy when your dead" said Leslie with a little chuckle while Owen nodded in agreement

"Oh I think you have to be dead to understand that" said Phoebe to her husband looking a bit bemused herself

"You still live when you're dead" asked Victor to Patty

"Well yeah, what do you want everyone up there to do? Sit on clouds and stare down at you lot all day" said Patty

"No suppose not" said Victor then as an afterthought asked "Are you seeing anyone"

"Mom, Dad keep the jealousy talks to later alright" said Piper a little miffed. Patty bit back her response and looked towards her daughter

"Maybe these three should go to bed now hey" gesturing to Wyatt, Chris and Little Patty. When Piper got up to do the task Patty quickly went on "Oh homey don't worry yourself I'll do it"

"We'll take Patty home" said Leslie gesturing to himself and Owen. "We need to do some guy stuff before he walks down the isle, Victor, Nick would you like to join us?" The men left to next door with Little Patty and big Patty took her two grandsons upstairs for bed.

"Ok you two into bed" she said once they had been changed and their teeth had been cleaned. Chris and Wyatt grudgingly climbed into their beds. "Tomorrows going to be a big day, you need your sleep. Goodnight little ones" said Patty as she turned off the lights and slowly closed the door "And Chris you know that secret you've been keeping" she asked him

"Yeah" answered the boy sleepily

"Don't tell anyone ok"

"Ok Grandma, but what if they find out by themselves" he asked innocently

"I suppose that would be alright" she said then bade the child another goodnight and left the room.

When Patty got back downstairs she walked back to where her mother and her daughters were situated. Reaching the door of the room she stopped and took in the scene before her and smiled happily at it. Piper was looking radiant and Phoebe and Paige who were both incredibly happy that their big sister had found love again were almost as much so. The four women in the room were talking and laughing happily while sipping on wine (all except Piper, pregnant woman can't drink). Patty was truly happy her daughter had found someone as great as Owen to spend the rest of her life with. Piper deserved it after the ordeal she went through with Leo. Patty knew that this marriage was going to last for the rest of their lives and well on into the after life.

End Flashback

Once the wedding party had reached the end of the isle the ceremony began. Chris tuned out the majority of it not really understanding what they were saying and spent the time looking around the church at everyone. When the priest began talking two see-through figures appeared up the back of the church. It was his great grams and his grandma. A moment after they appeared another figure came in, but this figure orbed in. When Chris saw who it was he gasped and nudged Wyatt, who when saw what Chris was seeing also gasped. They were both very shocked by that appearance.

A/N: Please read and review. Thanks so much to everyone who's reviewed so far, you guys are awesome.


	8. Orbing In

Disclaimer: I don't own charmed or have anything to do with it.

A/N: Thankyou to everyone who reviewed, you're all awesome and incredibly nice

------------------------

"Chris, that's a darklighter" exclaimed Wyatt in a very low whisper

"No it isn't" whispered Chris back

"Yeah it is! Look he has that thingy darklighter's carry to hurt whitelighter's and that's what mom says darklighter's look like"

"But he orbed" said Chris. His voice was still in a very low whisper

"That doesn't matter, he can't ruin the wedding, we have to do something Chris" said Wyatt trying to pass his confusion

"Wyatt I'm scared, I don't want to get hurt" said Chris in a shaky voice to his brother

"Don't worry Chris, I'll protect you" he said taking hold of Chris's left hand.

As soon as those words left Wyatt's lips they looked back over at the back of the church and saw the darklighter looking right at them. His face had a sick smile twisted onto it and a glint in his eye. The man slowly lifted up the crossbow in his hands and pointed it at them.

Chris's eyes went wide and he took in a sharp breath. His hand flew out of Wyatt's grasp and joined his other hand which was out in front of him in a vain effort to protect himself. Suddenly the room froze. Chris looked down at his hands in wonder. He had done that, he didn't have that power.

"What happened" exclaimed Piper. The priest who was supposed to be talking had stopped and was frozen solid. "I didn't freeze anything"

"Chris froze the room mom" said Wyatt

"Mommy there's a bad guy" Chris's voice was still very shaky "Over there" he said pointing to the back of the church. The three heads of Piper, Phoebe and Paige swung over to look at what the boy was pointing at. The sight they saw was a darklighter moving ever so slowly trying to break out of his frozen state, and just behind him were two ghosts, their Grams and their Mom talking furiously with their heads bent together.

As soon as Piper came to her senses and realised what it was she raised her arms and blew him up. It did not have the desired effect. The darklighter, instead of blowing into oblivion, scattered into jumbles of white light and reformed, unfrozen this time.

"What the..." Paige exclaimed amazed. The three sister's, the two boys and little Patty were still the only ones in the church unfrozen, except for the ghosts and the darklighter of course, "What is it"

"I don't know" said Phoebe, the three started running towards it desperately trying to keep the thing away from the children, but all they could was watch helplessly as the thing fired an arrow at the boys.

Chris saw the arrow coming towards him, he knew it'd hit him and for some reason all he could do was stand there and watch it coming for him. His mom's and aunts backs were still turned. Everything was going in slow motion for him, but their reactions weren't quick enough to help the little boy.

Just milliseconds before the arrow was due to hit him he felt his body lift up off the ground and sail away. Looking to his left he saw that Patty's and Wyatt's were doing the same thing. After a minute of flying Chris's feet touched back down to earth. The three children were now standing off to the side of the church beside a statue.

When he landed his eyes looked right into someone else's stomach. Slowly he looked up and saw the face of an angel glowing back at him. Chris heard a sharp intake of air beside him which he assumed came from Wyatt and he knew his thoughts were true. This was the lady who made him fly, who helped his mommy meet Owen, this was his Aunt Prue.

"Is it really you?" he asked softly looking into her eyes. She knelt down to his eye level and gave the boy a small smile

"Yes it is Chris" said Prue Halliwell "Thankyou for keeping my secret" she continued. Prue then leant into him and gave him a soft kiss on his cheek "You're a beautiful boy Christopher Halliwell and it's a pleasure to finally meet you

"Aunt Prue" Wyatt asked looking at her in wonder

"Yes it's me Wyatt and it's a pleasure to meet you too" she said smiling at him then kissing his cheek as well

"Pwue!" Little Patty ran to Prue and jumped into her arms. It was quite weird for Patty to do this, she didn't trust people easily but she seemed to already like Prue very much. Prue was surprised by the embrace but returned it with ease. While doing so she looked up at the two boys with confused eyes.

"Aunt Phoebe shows her pictures of you at night and talks about you to her, she told me last night" explained Wyatt

"You three have to keep my secret ok" The boys nodded but looked warily at Patty. Prue followed her eyes and spoke to Patty

"Patty, sweetie, you can't tell anyone about me ok. You have to keep it a secret" Patty nodded happily not really listening to her "Can you two try to stop her please" They nodded again

"Why are you here Aunt Prue" asked Chris not understanding why she was

"You two were in danger so I came to help you, I'm your whitelighter Chris, your's Wyatt's and Patty's, the charmed ones children" she answered. "Besides I was watching the wedding anyway"

"Chris! Wyatt! Patty!" Piper was calling them. The three of them gave Prue one last hug then ran out from behind the statue "Are you alright?" she asked them when they came into view

"We're fine mom, we orbed out" answered Wyatt

"Yeah I gathered that, the darklighter's gone but we will talk more about that later, back to your positions. This frozen state can't last much longer" she hurried Chris and Wyatt back to where they were supposed to be "Phoebe come on, we have a church full of people here" Phoebe was bent down in front of her daughter inspecting every little bit of her making sure she wasn't hurt.

"I'm coming Piper" she walked over to the boys and joined Chris's left hand with Patty's right and Wyatt's right with her left. "Look after my baby boys"

"Yes Aunt Phoebe" they echoed. Phoebe then went back to her bridesmaid position. They waited a minute for the church to unfreeze.

While waiting Chris continued his scan of the church. His eyes made their way back to the back of the church. He smiled at his grandma and his great grams and they smiled warmly back at him. The next thing he knew there was once again swirling white orbs forming in between the two women. He held his breath wondering who it could be this time. When they formed he smiled brightly at the person. It was Aunt Prue. He nudged Wyatt and he too smiled at her.

"Try... Who are you two smiling at" asked Piper following their gaze. Chris was confused when his mom looked back at them seemingly oblivious. He looked back at Prue

"They can't see me" Prue said loudly "Or hear me" she added as an after thought

"Nothing mommy don't worry" Piper nodded reluctantly and continued with what she was going to say

"Try unfreezing Chris, you've seen me do it" Chris did as his mommy suggested and the church came back to life. Piper smiled at her son and before looking back into the eyes of her beloved.

Chris was just fixing his attention back on the wedding when he felt something he always dreaded feeling. Leo had just orbed in. He looked at Wyatt whose eyes had once again gone wide. He looked over at his Aunt Prue but the back of his dads head was blocking his view of her.

"What are you doing here, out in the open" Leo was whispering furiously to Prue

"Ah Leo" she looked at him with strange eyes "turn around" he did as she requested and what he saw gave him the surprise of his life. Piper was getting married. His son's were in tuxes. The groom wasn't him. "They can't see me" Prue added in just to let him know.

"She has a right to be here Leo, no matter what your lot say" It was grams who spoke this time. Up the front the priest was still talking unaware to all the happenings in front of him.

"If anyone objects to the union of Piper Halliwell and Owen Johnson speak now or forever hold your peace" Piper and Owen didn't even turn there heads to see, but Chris and Wyatt were holding their breaths, gripping tightly onto the hand of Patty attached to them.

A/N: Please review and don't worry peoples you'll get your Owen/Leo biff.


	9. After the Party

Disclaimer: I don't own charmed or have anything to do with it

The two boys stared at their father. Their father stared at their mother. Their mother focused only on her man. Their father got the message, he wasn't wanted. His eyes were stinging with unshed tears. His mind was reeling with unfair thoughts. Leo Wyatt wasn't in a very good place. He needed to get out.

"If anyone objects to the union of Piper Halliwell and Owen Johnson speak now or forever hold your peace" the priest then spoke.

His mouth opened, words started to come but then the words stopped, he couldn't get them out. All he could do was stare at the obviously in love couple standing at the alter. The priest continued speaking, his chance was gone and he'd have to hold his peace. He needed to get out, but the orbs weren't coming, he couldn't move, speak or do anything except stare.

The ceremony continued and it was a gorgeous one. Every guest in the house was moved by the beautiful vows Owen and Piper proclaimed to each other. They spoke little of their past but much of their future.

"I want to grow old with you" Piper had stated

"I don't want to live a second of my life without you" Owen had proclaimed

"Maybe god will be kind and let us die old and grey in each others arms" Piper had said

"Maybe God will be kind and let us have nothing but happiness in our times ahead" Owen had continued

"If good times are not on the cards, we will get through the bad as one" Piper was crying by now

"If good times are not on the cards, I know they will still be had, as long as I'm with you" Owen was close to tearing up himself

"We will be one" Piper started

"Wholly and completely" Owen continued

"Our hearts are bound"

"Nothing will tear them apart"

"In the here and now" said Piper

"In the here and now" said Owen

"I love you" said Piper

"As I love you" said Owen

"And we will love each other" they said together "for the rest of our days"

Rings were exchanged. Chris did his part. They were officially pronounced husband and wife, officially bound as one.

"You may now kiss the bride" said a joyous priest, and kiss they did. The hundred and two guests stood up and the applause broke out. Cheering, woof whistling, clapping and giggling. The kiss broke and hand in hand they turned to face their family and friends. Two huge grins were plastered on two beautiful faces.

Hand in hand, together as one, they walked their first walk as husband and wife. Down the isle to where her Grams and mom were waiting. Seconds before Piper's gaze had settled on her family two sets of blue orbs had left the building. The ex had left and Piper had had a Leo-free celebration. The sister had left not to be found.

Onto the reception the family went. Dancing, photos, speeches. The night was a blast. When cake time came, Piper and Owen went through the traditional process of feeding each other and were successful but found out later they were not the first to eat said cake. Two small handfuls had been taken out of the bottom and coincidently there were two adorable chocolate covered faces off to the side of the proceedings and both wore identical guilty but mischievous looks.

When the family arrived back at the manor things were a bit different. Some of the life had faded. Chris and little Patty were both sound asleep in a parents arm while Wyatt was yawning continuously and swaying while walking, his hand clasped firmly in his mothers. Owen and Piper were getting very anxious as their plane for Barbados left early in the morning and they hadn't finished packing yet. They were supposed to the previous night but they got a little side tracked with the family visit.

Once inside Owen reached out with his free arm, the other was supporting a snoozing Chris, and flipped on the light switch. The next thing he knew a fist had come out of nowhere and slammed into his left eye. His vision went blurry for a minute but the exclamation he heard from Piper told him all he needed.

"Leo!" she yelled. Owen's vision came back into focus and he was met with the seething face of Leo.

'What do you think you're doing" asked Owen angrily

"What am I doing? What are you doing?" Owen was about to answer when a small voice spoke from his shoulder

"Daddy?" asked Chris stirring "What's happening?"

"Chris I'm not in the mood, go to your room" answered Leo. Chris however ignored him and looked at Owen

"Daddy?" he asked again

"Orb to your room buddy, you too Wyatt" The boys quickly did as they were told. Owen hadn't taken his eyes off Leo and he looked really angry. Once the boys were gone Piper spoke up.

"Owen, honey calm down, he's not worth it" she said "This is our night, let's not let anything ruin it"

"Could the rest of you please go next door, Leo and I need to have a little chat" said Owen ignoring Piper

"I'm not going anywhere Owen" stated Piper and Victor and the rest of the family nodded in agreement. By now Leo had had enough

"Who the hell are you, you know about magic, you marry my wife, steal my kids. Who the hell are you" Leo yelled furiously

"I'm Piper's husband, something you already knew. I saw you there at the church today" Owen said this in a very low calm voice

"You know about magic, hows that possible" Leo said still yelling

"You think I'm a demon?" asked Owen slightly amused

"Oh come on Leo, do you really think I'd get married and not tell my groom the truth about me until after the wedding"

"The choice to tell him should have been discussed with the elders" said Leo "And you're letting some man steal my children Piper, I'm their father" After that Owen really blew up

"Stealing your children" he yelled "I can't believe you. Tell me Leo, about your kids, what do they like doing, what's there favourite movie, do they even like movies. Tell me how you can possibly call those kids your own, you don't even know them"

"You want to know about my kids, Wyatt was born in this very living room, right over there", he pointed to the table. "Piper's labour went for twelve hours. He faced his first demon not more then a week later. His first word was momma; he said it to wake Piper up. He's the bearer of Excalibur and he's the twice blessed child. His favourite stuffed toy was named Terry and his favourite dummy was the blue one. His favourite television show is, was Sesame Street. What else would you like to know?" asked Leo menacingly

"How about your other son, what's his name?" Owen asked sarcastically. The rest of the family was looking on at this fight not daring to get involved. Leo threw Owen a filthy look

"Christopher Perry Halliwell, after my father" he answered hotly

"Well done Leo, how about something else about your son" Owen was back into his state of deadly calmness

"He was born the day Wyatt was taken, he's five, he ah..." Leo faltered

"He's six, he had a birthday two months ago, one which you failed to show up to" stated Owen

"I wasn't invited" said Leo defending himself

"It's your sons birthday, you don't need to be invited" answered Owen sharply

"So what, you think you're a perfect father for him then do you. It won't matter I'm still his father" The calm demeanour that Owen had worked hard to maintain was lost once more. He was livid at this man

"Nobody's perfect Leo but I do know I'm doing a better job of it then you. You're never around; you don't know your sons. Everything you told me about Wyatt was information you learned while he was a year old or younger, how about after that, and what about Chris"

Chris had been calling him daddy since a day and a half after he proposed to Piper. He had been reluctant to let him for this very reason. He hadn't wanted to take Leo's place in Chris' life. But Paige had changed his tune on that issue. As soon as she had heard about the conversation with Chris the night before, she had taken Owen up to Chris and Wyatt's bedroom, told him to get on his hands and knees and look under Chris's bed. Under there he had found eight different wrapped presents. Four were in birthday paper and four were in Christmas paper. The package he had seen Chris call to him before he had orbed upstairs was among them.

"Leo is Chris's father in the sense of DNA and DNA alone. Every time Leo comes for an event that is all Chris gets from him. Every other time Leo comes he gets a thirty second conversation and because of that these presents will probably never be opened. Chris doesn't see Leo as a father, he sees him as a man who orbs in and disappoints him over and over again. Chris needs a father Owen and he already sees you as that person, regardless of what he calls you and last night you crushed that little boys hopes of having a father in the person he idolises, you" she had told him

He had been crushed for Chris by that revelation. He had known Leo was rarely around but he had not known what happened when he was there. After that Owen hadn't hesitated to let himself be Chris's daddy if that was what Chris wanted. He had had the conversation with Chris about it and from that moment on the boy had only called him daddy. He had called him daddy with such ease the first time it seemed like he'd been doing it since the moment he'd begun to talk. The word Owen was completely lost in the boys' vocabulary.

After a while Wyatt had gotten so used to his brother doing it he had begun to call Owen dad as well, though he still called Leo dad as well while Chris never gave Leo a title.

"You don't even know the kids' birthday" he went on "You don't know what a great person he is or how sweet he can be. You don't the boys. You don't know that they both play baseball on Saturdays or that they do Karate on Tuesdays, the weekday they don't have to go to magic school after regular school"

"You don't know that they both hold B averages at normal school or that Wyatt is getting A's in Spell Writing and Power Control while Chris is getting them in Introductory Potions and Magic History at Magic School"

"If you want to be those boys father Leo then start acting like one. Fatherhood is earned not given, or at least it should be. At the moment you share blood types with Chris and small conservations every now and again with Wyatt. That's not a father. Been there, that is" Owen finished his rant with a heavy breath. He had wanted to say those things to Leo ever since Christmas when he found out all truths about Leo and the reasons for his behaviour.

"You- You're..." Leo's voice was very croaky "You're right" and with that last statement he orbed out. Owen turned to the rest of the family, his eyes on the floor

"I'm sorry, I just couldn't help it" he said softly

"Don't worry about it son, you beat me to it" answered Victor

"Come on sweetie lets go check on the boy's and get some ice for that eye" said Piper lightly tracing over the swollen parts with her finger "then continue our celebrations ok. It is our wedding night after all" Owen face lit up at the reminder. Piper then turned to the rest of the family but before she could say anything Phoebe spoke

"We're out of your hair, not to worry. Everyone's coming to mine" she said pushing the rest of the family out the door.

Two hours later the boy's were sound asleep, all the packing had been finished and everything was ready for them to leave quickly in the morning. Owen and Piper were now in a world of their own. They were downstairs in the living room dancing away to a collection of romantic classics. Piper's head was resting on Owen's shoulder and his face was inches from her head taking in the raspberry scent of her hair. In between them they could both feel the small bump of Piper's belly where their new child was growing. Their hearts both were filled with joy at the thought of this child they had created together. The little mishaps of the day were entirely forgotten, at least for the moment. The two of them were in absolute bliss.

When Leo had orbed out he had gone straight to Golden Gate Bridge, his thinking spot. Those things Owen had said had really hurt him, but what hurt more was the fact that Leo knew they were true. He had turned out to be a horrible father. He put his job in front of his family, but another side of his brain still argued that his job was saving the world. Still family should always come first. His past decisions had cost him so many things; they had cost him his wife, his life and now his children.

Leo sat down on one of the pillars preparing himself for a good long mediation session. He needed to think about these things. Just as he was starting to clear his mind a person orbed down and appeared at his side.

"Leo" it was Prue "Make it up to them, forget about the past, you can't change it but try and be there for your kids in the future. Chris is a great kid he will forgive you if you prove yourself to him and Wyatt will always love you, he has proper memories of you" Leo didn't answer her so she muttered a quick "Think about it" and orbed away

How could he make up for all those mistakes? What he had chosen in life was bad, who he had become was horrible and what he had done to those kids was worse.

After awhile he finally decided on a letter to each Chris and Wyatt. Every time something came up he would write them a letter and tell them his feelings. He was committed to his job he couldn't back out on that now, a letter would have to do.

Leo quickly orbed a yellow writing pad and a pen to him and got to work. He was going to apologise to his kids for not been there. Hopefully it would do.

A/N: Thanks for reviewing. I hope the Leo and Owen fight was good enough for you. Next Chapter should be up within the week. Thanks once again and please keep reviewing


	10. Chris, the big brother

Disclaimer: I don't own Charmed or have anything to do with it.

Six months, it had been six months since Piper and Owens wedding, six months since the run in with Leo, six months and Piper Halliwell-Johnson was about to pop. Her baby was ready to come, she knew that, and she was as excited as ever about that fact.

She didn't know whether the baby would be a boy or a girl, smart or popular, she didn't know anything of that sought but she did know that this baby was loved. Her husband loved this child, as he said while he spoke to her crutch every night. Her boy's loved this child as they both always wanted to know every single thing about it. And she loved this baby. It was a weird feeling but it was a feeling she had had three times now. The feeling of loving a person you know absolutely nothing about, of that feeling of complete unconditional love. It was a tremendous feeling.

Piper's due date had been three days ago so she hadn't been in the best of moods lately, as she was always uncomfortable because of this. At the moment though, she was feeling quite content. The baby had stopped moving for a little while and she was lying down on her bed with her son Chris lying on the end of the bed talking to her.

"Why does the baby never kick when I'm around mom" he asked

"You've felt the kick before Chris" she answered

"Well yeah but not nearly as many times as Wyatt or Dad has" he said sulkily

"Well it's not really that important, you have bigger things to worry about don't you" said Piper

"Like what"

"Like the fact that any day now you're going to be a big brother, just like Wyatt is your big brother" Piper told her son

Chris looked away from his mom with a strange expression on his face. He didn't know how to be a big brother; he had always been the little brother, always the baby. He was worried now, he didn't think he ever be able to be as good of a big brother as Wyatt was. He was about to ask his mom about this when but she let out a scream just before he got the words out.

"What's wrong" he asked concerned

"Contraction, oh oh contraction!" she exclaimed "Go get daddy Chris" Chris quickly orbed out of the room to find his dad. In a matter of seconds he was standing back on the floor of his parent's bedroom with Owen at his side.

"Chris I've got to take your mom to the hospital ok, go to magic school, find Wyatt and then stay with your Aunt Paige until she can bring you guys to the hospital" said Owen to Chris as soon as he had realised what was going on

"Ok daddy" said Chris before orbing out.

He had not been in magic school for more than five seconds when Wyatt orbed in beside him.

"What are you doing here Chris?" he asked concerned

"Our little brothers coming" he answered "How come mommy and daddy don't know it's a boy and we do"

"Because we are half angel, they aren't" answered Wyatt in a matter of fact tone

"Come on we have to find Aunt Paige" said Chris taking Wyatt's hand. He waited patiently while Wyatt searched for her with his sensing powers.

"She's in her office" said Wyatt "But come to my class now and we will go when that finishes" Chris nodded his ok and they went on their way.

An hour later they were walking through the massive halls of magic school, neither of them had spoken in a while but Chris had something he really needed to talk to Wyatt about so he broke the comfortable quietness.

"How do you be a big brother Wy?" he asked quietly

"What do you mean?"

"Mommy said that I was going to be the knew baby's big brother, I don't know how to be one" said Chris

"Well sure you do, you just look out for them and make sure they are always ok" Chris still looked worried so Wyatt went on "Like with Patty. You're her big cousin right?"

"Yeah" said Chris

"And you always make sure she is ok and that she is happy"

"Yeah but that's different, she's my cousin"

"No it's not Chris, it's just the same thing except you will feel more of a connection with the baby, like you feel one with me" Chris nodded but was still looking only at the floor

"Don't worry so much about it ok. You're going to be a great big brother and I'll help you be one alright after all I'm your big brother so I still have to look out for you" Wyatt then put his arm around Chris's shoulders and gave them a squeeze of reassurance.

A minute later they reached Paige's office and knocked on the door.

"Come in" she called and when she caught site of whom it was continued "Is your mom having it now" they nodded "Oh it's so exciting, I remember when the two of you were born, it was a bit different, not as simple"

"What do you mean?"

"Oh don't worry about that" she answered waving off the question "We've got to go"

"Ok where we going" asked Chris

"The hospital duh" said Wyatt, Chris's cheeks turned a light shade of pink

"No, no, we'll go home first and take the car" said Paige. The three of them orbed back to the front hall of the manor and were just about to walk outside when someone knocked on the front door.

"Hello?" said Paige speaking to the man she found on the other side. The man looked at her strangely before answering

"Ah yeah hi, um does... ah, who are you" the man looked very confused

"Paige" answered Paige also confused

"Paige...?" he asked

"Mathews, why" she asked

"Never mind" he started walking backwards "Just knew someone who used to live here, don't worry bout it, never really thought they'd sell the place but hey what do I know" he was mumbling

"Wait! Who you after" Paige called after him but he was gone. She then turned to the boy's "Do either of you know who he was?" both shook their head "Oh well come on we got to go"

When they arrived at the hospital they found Owen standing just outside of Piper's room pacing back and forth.

"Daddy" called Chris when he spotted him

"Hey little buddy" said Owen picking Chris up "Your little brother or sister is going to be here any second now"

"Little brother daddy, it's a boy" Owen smiled at him softly. Chris then spotted someone off to the side of his dad "Aunt Phoebe, is your baby coming now too" he asked his Aunt"

"No Sweetie, not for a couple of months yet" she answered the boy

"Oh ok then" Phoebe had gotten pregnant not long after Piper's wedding, her and Les were expecting their second child in three months time.

"Excuse me Mr Johnson" asked a nurse coming out of the room

"Yes" said Owen spinning around to face the lady

"You can come back in now" she said and Owen sighed with relief, "they can come too" she added indicating the boy's. Owen took Wyatt's hand and led the two of them into the delivery room.

The second they stepped inside the faint sound of soft baby cries met their ears. They walked quietly over to Piper's bed and looked down on the woman who was holding her newborn baby.

"It's a boy" she said looking up at Owen with a smile

"Told ya" Chris bragged but Owen wasn't listening, he was busy starring down at his new son with a look of wonder on his face.

Another cry from the child brought Owen back to reality and he bent down and shared a long gentle kiss with his wife.

"I love you" he said looking at her "And you little one" he added casting a loving gaze over the baby

"Shawn" said Piper suddenly

"Shawn Halliwell-Johnson" stated Owen, nodding his approval

"Is that his name?" asked Wyatt

"Yes that's your little brother" said Piper

Chris gazed down at the child from his position in Owen's arms. He was a beautiful baby Chris noticed, but that wasn't the main thought running through his mind. No the main one was much more special, it was that he finally understood what it meant to be a big brother, it meant that he would do anything for the baby, he had to protect him, protect Shawn, his little brother.

A/N: So sorry about the long wait for this chapter, I'm not going to tell you when the next one should be up because if I do it won't be up by then. Hope you enjoyed this chapter, please review.


	11. Author's note

Author's Note:

Hey guys sorry about this but I just needed to ask you a question. On the show do you like Paige with Kyle or would you prefer her with someone else. This is really important for my next chapter. I'm writing it at the moment and have come to a crossroad of sort, I just thought I'd ask my readers what they want rather then making the decision myself as I like both ways I could take. And just remember the sooner you answer this the sooner the next chapter will be up. It should only take me about an hour to write the rest after I get the answer.

Thankyou for your time and please leave a review with your answer.

Always,

Flopsy


	12. A Paige Day

Disclaimer: I don't own Charmed or have anything to do with it

It had been a long two weeks for Paige Matthews. Magic school had been giving her problems as there was another darklighter, disguised as a whitelighter, attack the week before and with all of the paper work and endless talks with parents that situation created, her job had been completely unbearable. To add to that though home hadn't been much better. With the arrival of baby Shawn two weeks before the place was in an uproar so she couldn't even go there to catch a break from disastrous and or stressful situations.

Home was like a war zone. Owen, while been a good man, had turned out to be the most overbearing of overbearing husbands and fathers. Every single time that little Shawn even whimpered Owen was by his side in a matter of seconds, checking every possible situation, making sure nothing would hurt his new son. Every time that Chris or Wyatt needed something, he'd try to help while still trying to look after his new son. Every time Piper yawned, he'd be by her side trying to convince her to take a nap, or go out and leave the kids to him for a bit.

In theory those things sounded like he was super-dad, but the truth was he was spreading himself too thin. He was trying to do everything at once and many things were slipping through the cracks and with Paige been the only other occupant of the manor, she found it to be her duty to pick up the scraps, so to speak.

Also Leo had been slacking off again lately. After his huge confrontation with Owen he had written long letters of apology to each of his sons and increased his visits to fortnightly and when ever he could spare a few minutes. It had been going pretty well, Chris had forgiven him as soon as he had been asked and started to also refer to him as daddy. Wyatt, who had always held his dad in high esteem, had loved the fact that he was around more often and didn't even need to be asked to forgive Leo for not been around all that time. But the last couple of months Leo had only been come for very short amounts now and again. He had missed his weekend visits and left only letters of apologies for both his sons. This too was creating a strain for Paige as it was her left to console the broken heart children.

Other things were getting her down as well, more personal things, like the fact that both of her sisters were married with families and she still lived with one of them by herself and had absolutely no prospects of a gaining a husband any time soon.

Paige knew that all these problems would go away soon enough. She was sure that within the week the parents would be slowing down on their abusive messages and that Owen and Piper would be back on top of things soon enough, but until that time came she was in for a quite a bit more stressful times.

It was late on a Wednesday afternoon and Paige had just gotten back with Wyatt and Chris from another torturous day at Magic School. She was currently in the kitchen, trying to catch a little Paige time before a new round of chaos began.

Paige was just pouring herself a well deserved cup of coffee when she heard the doorbell ring. Deciding to let someone else answer it she stayed firmly rooted to the spot where she stood. After three more rings she finally gave in and walked dejectedly to the door to see who was on the other side. The person that was took her by surprise, it was the man from the day Shawn was born, she hadn't expected to ever see him again.

"Hello"

"Hi" said the man back "I'm sorry about the other week, I was just sort of surprised to see a new person living here" he paused for a second and looked to be having some kind of debate with himself in his head, finally he continued "You wouldn't happen to know where the last owners of this place moved to would you?"

"Ah the last owners of this place was my mothers family, this place has been in my family since it was built" said Paige

"That's impossible, unless you're a Halliwell too" said the man unsure

"I'm related, who are you?"

"Your... oh ok, ah does Prue Halliwell still live here?" he asked her

"Prue? You're after Prue?" asked Paige surprised

"Yeah why, is that a problem?" he said hesitantly

"Ah Prue, she's gone" said Paige not knowing exactly how to break the news to this man that she was dead.

"What do you mean gone, do Piper and Phoebe still live here" Paige signalled for him to wait and stuck her head back inside the house

"Piper! Can you come here please" called Paige up the stairs and when she heard an affirmative noise from her sister pulled back around to face the man.

"Who are you?" she asked him "I mean you turn up here, obviously with no knowledge of what happen almost ten years ago looking for a person who you're defiantly not going to find" The man regarded her strangely

"What are you talking about, I can hardly understand a word coming out of your mouth, it's like you're talking to me in code but you haven't yet let on how to crack it, I'm not getting the message" Paige was about to answer when Piper came to the door

"Paige I'm kind of busy, what do yo..." her eyes flew wide at sight of the man before her "Oh my god" she exclaimed "What are you doing here? You didn't escape again did you?" she asked eyes wide with worry

"No I was let out, it's been over ten years Piper" he said softly

"Phoebe!" Piper yelled sticking her head back inside

"Yeah" came the muffled reply

"Call Darryl and..."

"Why you yelling?" she interrupted coming to the door, she caught sight of the man and her eyes went wide "Bane! Oh my god" she quickly scurried off to do what Piper had asked

"You're Bane" asked Paige turning back towards him

"I'm Bane" he answered

"Who's Bane?" she asked Piper

"Where's Prue?" interrupted Bane before Piper could answer "She is the reason I came here after all"

"He's free" came the voice of Phoebe from another room of the house. Piper turned back to him

"Oh god this is going to be difficult, come inside would you" Once they were inside and each had a coffee in hand Piper spoke again.

"Paige this is one of Prue's old ah... boyfriends I suppose" She cast a quick look at Bane before continuing "He's been in prison for the last ten or so years"

"Prison?" asked Paige

"Yeah prison" answered Bane "Consorting with Demons" From the look on Paige's face he could tell that her opinion of him had just fallen rather dramatically so he added on "Prue, she trusted me. Where is she by the way?"

"She died" Paige answered his question rather abruptly "Like nine years ago" Bane had gone rigid with shock

"Wha... What?" he stammered out

"There was a demon attack about a year and a half after you escaped and she died in it" said Piper in a more gentle voice then Paige. Bane looked as if he was about to cry.

"Whose he mommy" Chris asked entering the room clad in his monster truck pyjamas

"This is an old friend of your Aunt Prue's Chris" answered Piper taking her sons hand

"He was here when Shawn was born" said Chris

"He was" she asked. Chris nodded in confirmation

"Ah...Paige?" he looked to Paige eyebrows raised she nodded and he continued

"Paige answered the door, I thought you had moved" he continued in an emotion filled voice. Paige felt a fair amount of compassion for him when she saw just how cut up he was about Prue been dead and took pity on him

"Would you like to stay for dinner" she asked eyes on the floor a little embarrassed about the way she had acted before

"No thankyou, I'm... I think I'll just go home" he said. Just as he was turning to leave Chris spoke up again

"Why are you so sad Mister" he asked. Piper looked down at her son and answered the question for Bane, who looked on in silence

"Bane here just found out that Aunt Prue died. He didn't know before, so he's a little bit sad because of that. It's not nice to loose a friend Chris"

"Well she is still around" stated Chris trying to calm this man. He didn't like it when people were upset

"What do you mean kid" asked Bane. Wyatt who had heard that last bit of the conservation walked quickly into the room answered that question before Chris got the chance to

"Chris thinks that when people die they look down on us from heaven" Wyatt then shot Chris a look that plainly said 'Don't say a thing'. Bane nodded and continued walking to the door. He was walking faster this time as if he couldn't wait to get out of there and with each step he took the look on his face just got more pained.

"Wait up!" Paige called a minute later running out after him. As soon as they were gone Chris felt the presence of another in the room. His head quickly snapped to his right and he saw his Aunt Prue's head poking in the room staring with unfocused eyes after where Bane and her sister had just run out.

"Mommy where's Shawn" asked Chris

"He's in my room taking a nap" answered Piper distractedly

"Com on Wy lets go talk to him" Chris said letting go of his mothers hand and taking Wyatt's, pulling him out of the room

"Chris Shawn can't talk yet, he's only two weeks old" Wyatt said confused. Chris ignored him, let go of his brother's hand and ran to into the waiting arms of his Aunt Prue.

"Aw Chris I missed you too" She said hugging the little boy "And you little Wy" she added when the boy had realised that she was there and come to hug her too.

"Why haven't you come for a long time" asked Chris

"I've been very busy Chrissie. The strange attacks have been happening more and more often and they are becoming more brutal" answered Prue sadly

"Well come on Aunt Prue you haven't seen Shawn yet" said Wyatt excitedly

"Piper had the baby?" asked Prue, eyes lighting up "Lead the way"

They walked up to Pipers room been careful not to be seen by Owen who was still somewhere upstairs. Once they reached the bedroom Prue let go of the boy's hands and walked quickly into the room

"The future power of three" said Prue under her breath looking down at her new little nephew and the at Chris and Wyatt, both whom were oblivious that she had spoken "He's gorgeous" she stated aloud happily

"Shawn isn't all that you missed Aunt Prue, Aunt Phoebe is pregnant again" said Wyatt smiling "And she's naming the baby after you 'Prudence Melinda Halliwell'"

"Well you two certainty know how to lift a person's spirits" said Prue ruffling Wyatt's hair.

"That man" said Chris changing the subject "do you love him?"

"No Chris I don't, but I do care about him deeply and he was very hurt when he found out I'm dead" she said her eyes clouding over a bit "but I have a feeling he'll be alright" she added smiling a little about the way her little sister had run out after him.

"Well I really have to go before someone finds me" said Prue while stroking Shawn's little sleeping head

"Will you come back soon" said Chris, eyes dropping to the floor

"I'll be back as soon as I can" said Prue kneeling so she was eyelevel with him. The kid defiantly had some abandonment issues, and with a lousy father like he had she couldn't blame the little dude.

After hugs were given and more promises of return were made Prue orbed out and back to her reality of endless paperwork and research. Because of who she was before she died she had been given the job of trying to put all clues together and come up with suspect lists of who might be the head of the strange attacks that had been taking place since the day of Piper's wedding. The Avatars were big suspects but the problem was they hadn't been registered of even have done any magic for about six years.

* * *

All was silent, tension was in the air, then suddenly a noise broke the silence, it was the sound a little baby's whimper. Everything was great; his newest little cousin had been born. With that sound the tension in the San Francisco hospital waiting room seeped away and chatter broke out. Eight year old Chris turned to his ten year old brother Wyatt but he was engaged in a conversation with their grandpa so Chris let them be.

In front of them Bane was pacing back and forth just outside the doors to the delivery room and Phoebe was beside him trying to calm him down. The door he was in front of opened and a nurse clad in blue walked out with a baby wrapped in a pink blanket in her arms.

"This is Patience Halliwell-Brody" said the nurse quietly

"She's beautiful" said a deep voice softly. Bane spun around and came face to face with his brother whom had only just arrived at the hospital.

"She's yours" said Bane

"My baby girl" Kyle Brody exclaimed putting down his briefcase and touching his little angels cheek. Kyle took the baby girl in his arms, not taking his eyes of her beautiful face and walked into the room where his wife, Paige Halliwell was waiting.

A/N: Thankyou to everyone who answered my question, I'm sorry to those who said no for Kyle but I went with majority rules. I figured that since Chris changed the timeline, in his old one Paige could have met Kyle much later. So yeah thanks and please review, you guys have all been so great, it really keeps my writing.


	13. A mother and son moment

His eyes were dancing, his stomach was fluttering, his breath was ragged, and he was one happy nine year old boy. He was also utterly exhausted. Running from room to room in a three story house for three hours could do that to a person, even a kid as energetic as young Chris Halliwell-Johnson.

Chris was at the present time at his first ever sleep-over party. He'd been invited to a few before but was never allowed to go because of the constant demon attacks that had taken place over the past few years, but now those attacks were becoming less and less frequent and his mom and dad were finally letting him go.

Chris was having a great time playing with his two best friends. Ryan's mom had baked cookies which were absolutely scrumptious, not as good as his mom's choc-chip cookies but still fantastic. They had played all types of games ranging from hide and go seek to water pistol fights. Three hours in and Chris had decided he never wanted to leave, but he should of known it was all too good to last, these things always were.

At exactly twelve minutes past five the front doorbell rang and a minute later he heard a rather urgent call of his name coming from Mrs Townson, Ryan's mother. As soon as that call reached his ears Chris abruptly abandoned what he was doing and ran down the stairs only to come face to face with a tear stained cheeked mother.

"Mom, what's wrong" Chris asked worriedly wrapping his arms around his mom's frame. Piper knelt down so that she was eye level with her son and spoke

"Your grandpa Chris" she started sobbing "he had a heart attack sweetie" Chris couldn't speak. His grandpa was one of his most favourite people in the whole world; he couldn't have a heart attack, it was impossible, why would he, he couldn't.

When Piper realised that her son wasn't going to move or say anything she planted a small kiss on his forehead than stood back up to properly converse with Mrs Townson.

After a moment of staring blindly into the beyond Chris was brought back to earth when he felt a pair of arms encircle him. All that he could see was chocolate brown hair but that was enough to tell him who was hugging him. It was Kel, his other best friend.

"Come on Chris it's time to go" he heard his mom say. Reluctantly Chris broke away from the hug and looked up at his mother "Don't worry sweetie, I'm sure he'll be fine" Piper stated

Chris nodded slightly and turned to say goodbye to his friends.

"See you at school Perry" Ryan called from his place at the bottom of the stairs. Kel leaned in and gave him another hug

"Bye Chris"

"Bye Kel" he muttered then turned to Ryan and called "Cya Ry and don't call me Perry"

The world was a surreal place, the trees looked to perfect to be right, the sky was far too blue, the streets were too clean, the birds were chirping much too loudly. Nothing was right, or at least from Chris' perspective it wasn't. How could a world so happy and alive be real when someone had just almost died, when another person Chris loved almost left him, a world couldn't be so cruel, could it?

Chris and Piper were on the road, driving towards the hospital where Victor Halliwell was passed out in a clean white bed and tucked under sterile bright white sheet coverings and neither of them was feeling too peachy.

"Chris, his going to be alright sweetie, I told you that" Piper spoke softly to her son trying to calm him. She knew she wasn't doing to great of a job, she'd never been the greatest at lying and even though the doctors had said her father would be fine she was still terribly concerned for his well being.

"Do you love me mom" Chris asked Piper hesitantly. His eyes were cast down towards the floor and his eyebrows were knitted together in worry

"Of course I do Chris" Piper answered

"Then can you promise me something?" he asked still with his eyes glued to the carpeted car floor

"Promise you what?"

"Well it's a big promise so you have to think about it a bit ok" Chris watched Piper out of the corner of his eye, making sure she nodded in acceptance before continuing

"Mom I want you to promise me that you will never leave me, I love you to much for you to leave and also I want you to promise me that you'll never scare me like grandpa scared me"

Piper didn't know what to say, her mind was racing. She didn't know how to make a promise she knew she'd never be able to keep, she didn't know how to tell a little boy that she would be leaving him eventually, so she stayed quite for a while, collecting all her thoughts and tried to figure out the best way to explain things to her child. Finally she began,

"Chris, baby, I'm not going to promise you that, I can't, because there is a very big chance that I won't be able to keep it and to tell you the truth I don't want to" Piper pulled into the parking lot of the hospital and cut the engine then turned to face her little boy

"Baby, you know that everyone dies eventually, you've seen your great grams and your grandma, they both died and left me, they didn't want to but they had to, it's just how life works, everyone dies and goes to heaven sometime, but I have been here a lot longer then you have so it's only fair to you that I leave you and go there without you, it won't happen any time soon or at least I hope it doesn't but if it does I will always be thankful that it was me and not you"

"Later on, I hope much later, we will meet there again and we will be able to spend the rest of eternity together. In a way you could just look at it as a holiday from each other, a very long holiday"

"But mom I don't ever want to be without you" Chris's voice was soft and croaky. As he spoke he pulled his eyes from the floor and faced his mother. Tears were cascading down his face but he wasn't making any attempt to stop them or wipe them away.

"I don't want to leave you either Chris, but just think of it like this, I'm here with you right now, I love you right now and even when that day where I leave does come, I'll still be with you here" she patted his heart "and here" she said stroking his head

"You'll always have memories of me and you'll always remember how much I loved you. If you do that you will always feel my presence and it'll be like I never left"

"I love you mom, just stay for a really long time ok?"

"I love you too baby" said Piper while reaching over and wiping the tears of his face "Now come on we have to go see your grandpa, your brother's and dad will be here soon, so lets go"

As soon as they reached the room were Chris's grandfather was situated Chris burst through the doors and sprinted across the room to his bed.

"Grandpa, Grandpa, are you alright?" Chris asked once there

"Christopher!" the exclamation was weak but Chris knew that it was truly filled with excitement "I'm fine kiddo, are you?" he asked when is gaze passed over the remnants of the tear tracks on the boys face

"Yeah, I was sad but mom talked to me" he said waving it off while crawling up onto the bed

"What happened to your head, mom said you had a heart attack" Chris asked while inspecting his grandfather's forehead by grazing his fingers over the bandage that covered a third of it.

"I hit it when I fell over" answered Victor simply

"Oh, does it hurt"

"A little" That meant it hurt a lot, Chris new his grandpa well, he didn't like admitting things hurt, if it only hurt a little bit then he would have said no. His mom once told him it was a man thing and that they did it to try to act all tough.

"Can I see it" he asked

"Chris it's going to be really disgusting, are you sure you want to?" Piper spoke from her position at the door where she had been silently watching her son interact happily with his grandfather

"Yeah I do mom, I'm a guy I can see gross things" Piper nodded slightly to her fathering allowance

"There" said Victor once he'd removed the bandage

"Ew it is gross" exclaimed Chris "It looks like it hurts heaps Grandpa, you told me you shouldn't lie so you shouldn't lie either" Piper let out a soft laugh from the doorway

"I told you Chris he'll never tell the truth about that" she said smiling

Chris smirked at his mom then turned back to Victor. The wound did look really horrible and painful. He lifted his hand back up and traced his fingers around the edge of it, as he did so his eyes were filled with an enormous amount of compassion, he felt so bad for his grandpa, he loved him so much and he hated it when people he loved were hurt.

Suddenly his hand started flickering with white light. It was really strange, especially since he didn't have that power.

"Mom, come here" he called looking at his flickering hand with wide eyes

"What's up sweetie" she caught site of his hands "Oh my god, ok Chris concentrate, just keep thinking about how much you love Grandpa"

Chris did as he was told and soon enough white light started pouring out of them. Just as the light was starting to go away, a voice spoke from just behind him and made him jump

"Woah, Chris you healed" It was Wyatt "Awesome dude"

"Thanks Wy" said Chris swivelling around to face his brother

"Come on Shawn" Wyatt said lifting his little brother off the ground "Look what Chris did"

"Good work lit…" Owen caught site of the look on Chris' face and held his hands of defensively "Sorry, sorry, I always forget, good work buddy"

"Now all that we have to do is figure out a way to explain to the doctors how my head suddenly healed" said Victor

"Sorry Grandpa" said Chris sheepishly

"Don't apologise Chris, that thing hurt like hell"

A/N: I am so sorry about the wait for this chapter, I just had final exams and graduation and all that stuff the past few weeks, I am so sorry, but here it is. The next chapter will be up much sooner. Please review feedback really is a great help for me. Next chapter you will get a little insight into the past of Bane and Kyle and a little preview of what is to come Wyatt wise. Thanks you guys you've all been so great!


	14. ‘Brother Talks on the Bridge'

Disclaimer: I don't own charmed or have anything to do with it.

Chapter 13:

"Why is it always you two huh? And this time you dragged him into it" she indicated the small boy standing off to the side" It's his first day! Can't you guys just keep your hands to yourselves for like a month at a time? It would make my job a hell of a lot easier"

"We're really sorry Aunt Paige"

"You're sorry every time, it doesn't stop you from doing it again now does it Chris" Paige had a migraine, her own flesh and blood and they were the two that were ordered to her office every other week for doing the wrong thing. Now she also had to deal with the fact that the third part of the terrible trio had arrived and was already looking into joining the other two's favourite past time, making her teaching life hell.

"What was it this time hey? Did they steal your lunch? Did they call you a nasty name? What did they do?" the sarcasm dripping from her voice was unintentional, but it gave the lecture life, she was tired of yelling the same words at these two kids over and over and not getting through to them.

Thirteen year old Wyatt, twelve year old Chris and five year old Shawn were squirming under her gaze. They hated it when they were yelled at like this. They tried to stop fighting, they really did but they always managed to find themselves trouble and they were the only ones that ever got into trouble about it even though they were always the ones who were provoked. Not one of them had started a fight in their entire life, except amongst each other of course.

"It was the name one… sort of" mumbled Wyatt

"Sort of… What's that supposed to mean?" asked Paige loudly

"You wouldn't understand" Wyatt answered quietly

"Wouldn't understand? I don't care if I wouldn't understand, I want to know, I want answers you two" she was mainly yelling at Wyatt and Chris, it was after all Shawn's first offence "and I want them now. You have to stop this nonsense, fighting will get you nowhere, you know this, why do it?"

"You, mum and Aunt Phoebe always fight" Chris grumbled

"We're fighting demons Chris, completely different, there's no comparison there" Paige said while rubbing her forehead

"If you're not going to tell me go home, we'll continue this when I get there, I'm stopping by on my way home to have a little chat with your parents" Paige watched as Chris, Wyatt and Shawn grabbed their bags and all but ran for the door

"Wait a minute" they halted "if you're going to keep fighting, and I have no doubt you are, can you please stop using magic and start doing it the human way. Those kids are no match for you in power and you are making my job hell by forcing me try to explain to parents why their children not only have black eyes but also why they have several bruises from been thrown across the room"

Once outside the room and away from the firing line, they all breathed a sigh of relief.

"Come here Wyatt" Chris then pulled Wyatt closer and held his hand over his black eye healing it for him.

"I wish I could heal" stated Shawn sulkily "You guy's are so lucky, you get to be angels, my daddy's a mortal"

"My dads a mortal too, Leo isn't my dad" Chris snapped, his eyes were hard and he was been harsh, but he was not in the mood to play nice "Who knows maybe you'll die and be made a whitelighter like Aunt Prue"

"Chris!" Wyatt exclaimed "Don't say things like that to him" Chris's demeanour softened at that and he turned to his little brother with sorrowful eyes

"Look Shawnie, I'm sorry, I'm not angry with you, I'm angry with that oaf over there" he indicated Wyatt "I didn't mean what I said, can you forgive me?"

"I'll always forgive you Chrissy" claimed Shawn "You guys shouldn't do that anymore, I got in trouble on my first day cause of it"

"Yeah I know we shouldn't" said Chris ruffling Shawn's hair "Come on I'll take you home" Chris took Shawn's hand but before he orbed away he spoke to Wyatt

"I'll meet you at the bridge in five minutes, we need to talk"

--------------------------

"Why do you do it Wyatt" Chris asked looking directly into his brothers eyes once he arrived at their meeting place after dropping Shawn home.

They were standing atop Golden Gate Bridge invisible to the rest of the world thanks to Wyatt's cloaking power.

"I can't help it Chris, they insult and I react. It's the way it's been our whole lives, you know that, something inside of me just clicks"

Wyatt looked vacantly down into the water below. He was ashamed of what he did. Every time something mildly bad was said about him or his family he always reacted violently. These day's people would just torment him to get a reaction out of him, they wouldn't even mean the things they were saying, but they thought of him as a psychopath and wanted to see what he would do next.

"You scare me Wy'. Your eyes, they're the worst of it, they go cold like ice, they look empty, like there is nothing left in there, no emotion, no nothing"

"Until you separate whatever fight has broken out this time, getting yourself into trouble in the process, and you look me in the eyes, you talk to me, then and only then do I feel like an actual human being again"

"It all comes back to you, you come back basically"

"I'm scared too Chris, except I'm scared that one day I won't come back and that I'll be a monster forever" Wyatt paused for a second and drew in a raspy breath "Like you remember that time when James Anderson called you a basted and told everyone that one of the top Elder's all but disowned you" Chris nodded painfully and Wyatt continued on oblivious to his brother's sudden sullenness

"Well that time the feeling was so much stronger then most, because what they said was about you, it meant something to me, and it was so much harder to pull out of, it took so much more effort to come back into myself then what it usually does"

"So you're worried that maybe one time if something really horrible happens you won't be able to pull out"

"Or maybe one day you won't be there to save me"

"I don't know how to help you Wyatt but I'll do my best, I promise you" Chris assured his brother

"There's something else I want you to promise me Chris" Wyatt bore his eyes into his brother's making sure that Chris knew that he truly meant what he was about to say "Promise me that if one day I don't come back you'll stop me, whatever the cost is, just stop me from hurting people. We both know what kind of damage I can do when I use my powers to their potential, the wall Lance Davison crashed through today was enough of a show I think, don't you?"

"I can't do that Wy, you're my brother. I will always be on your side"

"This is been on my side, my rational side at least" Wyatt spoke with a hint of urgency in his tone.

"Fine I promise, but I won't hurt you, I'll find another way" Chris didn't like what he was agreeing to but he'd do anything for his brother

"Why am I this way Chris, I hate been this person" The emotion in Wyatt's voice as he spoke was truly astounding, but Chris who was used to it as he had had similar conversations with Wyatt many times before just answered the question

"I don't know Wy, have you remembered anything else"

"Nothing, I used those meditation exercises Leo taught me a few years ago to try and focus but its all the same, I just get feelings, feelings of been constantly on guard, constantly afraid, constantly angry, completely untrusting. I don't know what it means, I even asked mom about it the other week and she just said it was a demon thing that happened before you were born, that that was what those memories were"

"We better be getting home, come on Wy' Aunt Paige will be there by now and mom will want to know where we are"

Together the two boys orbed back to the manor, both knew that the words they'd spoken on the bridge would under no circumstances be repeated to another living soul, they were the closest of brothers and they trusted each other wholly and completely. Both were certain that in a few years, when he was old enough, Shawn would be joining them for their bridge talks or as Wyatt had dubbed them their 'Brother Talks on the Bridge where they shared their Blues'. Shawn was one of them, therefore, soon Shawn would also be there. They felt the same connection with him as they felt with each other.

The connection was like a strong vibrating surge of energy that drew the three of them together and allowed them to know the others inside out, to know what the were feeling what they were thinking and even to be able to anticipate what the other would do next in a battle situation.

Once back on home soil at the manor both boys retreated immediately to their room, they didn't want to risk a run-in with either of their parents. They knew that a conversation with them right now would be a sand grain away from disastrous and preferred to avoid that at all costs.

As soon as they were back inside their room, they settled down at their own desks and began their normal school homework for the next day.

---------------------------

Downstairs in the living room of the manor Owen and Piper Johnson were engaged in a deep discussion.

"What are we supposed to do Piper? I don't know how to deal with this stuff anymore" Owen said to his wife

"I know Owen, believe me, I'm just as clueless as you" Piper reached over and took her husbands hand before continuing with what she was saying

"What I don't get is why it happens, they're good kids, except for these very frequent occasions when they throw people through walls"

"It wasn't a real wall, just a cardboard one" Off Piper's look Owen hastily changed where he was going with this little speech "Well that's what we can be thankful for, but we have to teach the three of them a lesson here, they have to know just how wrong it was"

"They know how wrong it was. Don't you see the look on Wyatt's face for the week after it happens, he hates himself for what he's done" Piper's eyes had taken a shade that represented that of only deep concern "You know I don't even think Chris and now Shawn have much to do with the fights, I think Chris always just intervenes, stops Wyatt, saves him from himself even"

"Chris was the one who threw that kid through the wall today" Owen said speculatively

"There isn't a thing in the world Chris wouldn't do for his brother, we both know that" Piper sighed deeply "And Chris threw one across the room, Wyatt threw that kid through the wall"

"Do you think this all has something to do with when Wyatt was kidnapped all those years ago, that this is why he can get like he does?" Owen asked softly, stroking Piper's hand in reassurance that she could say whatever she wanted to him and his ears would be the only ears that heard

"I'm scared that it does Owen, but I don't know how it can, Wyatt doesn't even remember that"

"Maybe it was a personality thing that happened to him while he was gone" Owen suggested

"Maybe, but we can't know for sure, I don't know if we ever will. I just wish our son could live peacefully, like his brother's do you know. I wish he didn't have all these inner demons to deal with. I know he doesn't want to do what he's doing and I wish he could find a way to stop"

"We just have to try and help him find a way Piper, it's all that we can do. Leo should be down here for this, it's his area of expertise"

"Leo hasn't visited his son's in a year, alls they've gotten from him for the last twelve months are letters filled with empty apologies. I'll get Nick to have a talk with him but Wyatt's stubborn, I doubt it'll do any good" Piper went mournful as she spoke of her ex-husband, she had long ago put the Leo she married and her boy's father into two separate categories, they really were two different people.

"Well come on then, lets go have our traditional, after-fight chat with our boys aye. We've got Shawnie there this time, it'll be good, the talk needed a bit of a change anyhow, the same old was getting quite boring" Owen said as he got up and lent a hand down to help Piper to her feet as well. Together the two of them set off up the stairs to have a talk with the rest of their family.

Piper was so grateful she had Owen in her life, especially in times like these. He always added a little bit of humour to the situation and not only that, he made her feel like he would always be behind her, supporting her, even when she felt like she was going to collapse under the stress of trying to raise three boys. He offered her advice when she was lost and a shoulder to cry on when she needed one. He was her inner strength, her backbone and was a part of her entire life. He was the best person she could have ever asked for to be a dad to her kids and a lover to her.

A/N: Hope you liked this latest instalment, thanks to all of you who have taken the time to read this story, the next chapter will be up soon, please oh please review. As always criticism is most welcome. If you liked it please leave a little note saying so. Thanks again everyone.

Oh and just some answers to a few questions that my loyal reviewers have asked

Acacia Jules – you were wondering about the new future and what's going to happen now because Chris changed so many things. To this I'm not going to say a lot, just that I believe that if you are truly meant to be with a person, your relationship will find a way of coming together, no matter what the circumstances are. All will be explained in the final chapter, which by the way I have already written, I just haven't written the in between bits yet.

IcantthinkofaFnick – This is the future where Wyatt becomes evil and the above chapter should have shown basically the background of how it all happened, the thing that really pushes him over the edge will be in two or three chapter's time. As for the reason why Chris could heal and he couldn't when he came back from the future, well just think of it like this, to be able to heal, you need to be able to love, a closed off heart won't let a person heal.

Ilovedrew88 – I'm so sorry that the Kyle-Bane thing wasn't in this chapter, it was just getting a little long and I decided that this would be a good place to end it for now. Next chapter I promise. And also the reason behind Victors heart attack, remember Chris's warning to his Grandpa when they were smoking cigars together, I just played on that.

Well that's all, if you have any more questions, just ask in your reviews and I'll be happy to answer them to the best of my ability without giving away too much.


	15. The Calm before the storm

Disclaimer: I don't own Charmed nor do I have anything to do with the show, I just wrote this story for my own enjoyment.

Chapter 14 --

The calm before the storm, he had seen it once before. It was a truly beautiful thing. It was a profound piece of peacefulness and serenity. It was joyous and humble. The calm before the storm was something that created an allusion to those caught in it. The allusion the calm creates is one of a false belief. The belief is that the world will always be as it is in that moment, will always be as happy and as beautiful, will always display a sense of tranquility and will always have a deep warmness to it. It makes the people caught in it believe that the cold will never come. The coldness will always come though, that is why it is called the calm before the storm, the storm will always follow the calm.

That was a fact he knew to be true, one that he had always hoped to be false but one that had been proved true in such a colossal way that the allusion would never capture him again. He had seen the storm many times, the allusion the calm created, that was no more than a dwindling hope to him now, it was no longer a belief.

As his eyes stretched over the mass of land before him from his place alone under a shady tree, he could see numerous amounts of people caught in the allusion. It was one he believed they should have recognized by now but one they still did not. These people in the park before him were his family, they were a group of people who owned his heart. One in particular owned it more than that one believed or wanted to, and much more so than the rest of the group, but they all had a portion of it.

His eyes caught site of a woman, the woman, as far as he was concerned. He stared, amazed at the way the sunlight bounced off of her vibrant dark hair, amazed at the grace which she moved with and the sweet satisfied feeling her voice brought about in his heart. The woman was laughing heartily as she conversed with two boys, two very special boys. They were Wyatt and Chris, her nephews. The boys, at this time, captured his attention far more greatly than the woman, something that in his universe was quite a feat. These boys intrigued him. He could see himself in one and the man who was, by all means except biologically, his brother, Kyle, in the other.

They had the same bond he and Kyle had shared as young children. They also had the same differences. Both were of the light but one had a darkness that demanded to take control. Wyatt was with the darkness and for all he tried to apprehend it, the man who watched from under the tree, Bane, could still see it in him, he could do this, as he was the one with the darkness in the equation that concerned Kyle and himself. Kyle was always the one of the light, pure to the point where he would go to outrageous, sometimes reckless, sometimes evil, lengths to protect the light. Chris was the same.

But Wyatt, Wyatt was so much like himself. Bane was the one who had an underlying darkness, who had to apprehend it, who had to put all his energy into stopping himself becoming someone who the world seemed to want him to be, someone of hate, someone of the darkness. He was the one who put all his energy into stopping something only to see it crack through his persona time and time again, to see him do things he never wanted to do.

Bane thought back to the time when he had finally let go, to when he had become the person he most feared. It was just after Kyle's parents had passed away, had been murdered to put it more bluntly. Their death had rocked his young world. They were not his parents in the sense of blood relations, but they had taken him in when his own parents had abandoned him. They had been good to him, had treated him as equally as they had treated Kyle, their own son. But their death had caused him to let go. When they had died he had been taken to an orphanage while Kyle had gone to live with his grandparents. Kyle, when he was old enough to understand what had happened to his parents, had turned to a life of finding justice. He wanted his parents memory to be honored and believed the only way that was possible was for him to find and capture the culprits who performed the unforgivable act of murder. Bane though, had to turned to a life of reckless abandonment. He had denied ever letting someone else into his life, denied his heart and had given in to the person he never wanted to be.

He could see the very real possibility of that happening to Wyatt and Chris, however he hoped that even if something were to happen, whether it be losing Piper and Owen, or something else, they would always have each other to lean on, that they would chose each other over the martyr and devil roles they could so easily fall into. He could see the calm all over their young faces, it was the same calm that had once been over his and his brothers. He could see the calm over the rest of the family's faces, they two were blissfully unaware of the approaching storm.

From his place beneath the shade of the tree in the park filled with the calm of today, he could see everything. The family had no idea what was to come, they were wrapped up in the present. He hoped against every fact he knew to be true that he was wrong. He prayed to a god he had no belief in for he to be wrong. The world could not face those brothers fallen, and he knew if the approaching storm was to surface that they would fall, deep down he could not deny the fact.

He had to turn his attention from his fears, it was the only way he could sleep at night, as he knew the damage that would be done to the entire world if his fears were to come true. Lucky enough for him he had a vaccine, something which took him away from his fears, his brother's wife.

Paige Mathews was a woman who had had his heart from the day she ran after him after he found out that Prue was dead. She had talked to him, offered him a place to stay when she found he had nowhere to go, she had become the person he looked to when even the tiniest thing was bothering him. He had fallen in love and then he had made the biggest mistake of his life.

He had enlisted her help, she had agreed to help him find his brother. During the time they had spent searching for him his feelings had grown and he had finally come to the conclusion that he would tell her all that he had been keeping inside while mourning for Prue. It was only a day after his resolution had been made that they found Kyle. Temporarily his plan to tell Paige had been put on hold and he had bonded with his lost brother. For a month they had spent nights together catching up, Paige on many occasions joining them until the day came when Bane realized that Paige's intentions when joining them had changed. Once they had been simply for his purposes, to support a friend, but then they changed, she no longer went for him but for Kyle. The two had fallen in love and he had taken a step back and let them.

All he could do now was watch her from afar, be in love with her from a distance, and keep any and all feelings he had for her to himself. There were only two people in the world that knew of his feelings towards Paige and they were Chris and Patty. Chris, under the tutelage of Owen, had become an excellent secret keeper and had taught Patty all he knew, so in that respect he had nothing to worry about.

In light of this he could not help but feel guilty for the feelings he harbored for his brothers wife. It was wrong and that was all there was to it. It was wrong to feel such things about a person so profoundly off limits, it was wrong to dream such things about a woman who bore his brothers daughter. It was wrong to hate himself for finding his brother and bringing them both the only happiness they had had in years.

He could stop feeling guilty now though because he was about to do something he should have done a long time ago. He had come to a decision about a month ago and since then had been putting his plans in motion and today was the day that he was finally going to see those plans through.

He watched the family he had come to love. They were scattered amongst the park. Sitting down on a blanket across the way were Piper and Owen. They were wrapped up in each other's arms, talking about everything and anything, blissfully unaware that there were others in their surroundings. Though every couple of minutes they would look to where the children were playing, making sure none of them were hurt. They were the perfect picture of the perfect husband and wife and the perfect parents, sitting in the spot where they had met over eight years ago.

Then there was Phoebe and Paige who were now sitting on the grass together, whispering the secrets of the universe behind their hands like a couple of school girls, every now and again shooting humorous glances at their husbands, a dead give away they were plotting something decidedly evil.

Standing up amongst the children were Kyle and Les. They both had a childlike glint in their eyes as they tumbled amongst the grass with their kids. Laughing and playing, having a great time with their family. Off to the side of them were Wyatt, Chris and Patty. They were playing fetch with Frankie. They had all grown so much from when he first met them. Wyatt was now fourteen and Chris twelve, and little Patty was already seven years old. Every so often one of the boy's would chase the little girl, tackle and tickle her until she was begging for mercy, while the other would keep an eye as sharp as a hawks on where their little brother was playing with his uncles.

The children's laughter rang through his ears and that laughter was the perfect reminder of why he was doing what he was, as was the picture that was before him. They were a perfect family, they had the love of each other, he was an outsider. He was leaving. Today was actually his going away celebration. They had spent the majority of the day together as a big group, only in the last hour spreading out. There had been a cake. There had been Piper's delicious cookies. There had been stories of past events. Now it was time, not time to say goodbye, the goodbyes had been said, but it was time to leave. As far as the family were concerned he was already gone. They did not know he was where he was under the tree. They could not see him. They thought he was gone.

He watched them from his spot for one last time. Phoebe and Paige had lifted themselves from their spot on the ground, snuck up behind their husbands and within seconds a water war had broken out. A minute later and the whole family had joined in, Piper and Owen running in from their spot, Frankie running around them as if possessed.

He took one last look at the beauty that was Paige. He was doing this for her, he couldn't keep up the charade of the caring brother-in-law much longer. He was leaving so she could lead her life in peace. He watched her smile and laugh as the water got directed to her, he watched her swing her little girl around off the ground by the arms. He said a silent goodbye to one of the only people who ever broke through the darkness in his heart, and the only person who conquered it for good. Then he turned and he left, the only happy thought in his head, at least he was leaving before the storm had set in.

If he had turned back and had one last look, he would have seen a little girl whisper something in her ear, he would of seen the look of shock on her face as her head swung around and watched his retreating back, and he would have seen that lone tear fall silently down her face as her mind flashed back to all the times they had shared, and the look on her faced as she realized she must have been blind not to see the love that he had for her, the love that was just revealed by the little girl who had inherited her mothers intolerance for secrets.

----------------

A/N: Hey I'm back, terribly sorry it's been so long. I'm not going to bore you with excuses, I have a million of them, let's just say it's been a hectic year. Please leave a review, feedback always helps, and thank you for taking the time to read this story, it means a lot.


	16. His Best Buds

Disclaimer: I don't own charmed, nor do I have anything to do with it.

Chapter Fifteen ----

"Christopher Perry Halliwell-Johnson… bloody hell that's a long name, get your ass down here!" Wyatt yelled up the stairs to his younger brother.

After a minute of standing at the bottom of the stairwell and receiving absolutely no response from Chris Wyatt decided to go upstairs and find the tyrant himself. He stalked into the room he had once shared with said tyrant only to be met with a half naked brother.

"Jees Wy', can't a guy get dressed in peace," said thirteen year old Chris with an over-exasperated voice and a strange glint in his eye.

"Not today he can't," answered back Wyatt, looking his brother up and down while he pulled on the last of his clothes as if searching him for something.

"What's so special about today?" he asked in an innocent voice, "And don't say anything about my name, yours is almost as long Wyatt Mathew Halliwell-Johnson."

"What's so special about today?" Wyatt repeated in an incredulous voice, "You have got to be kidding me. Do you even know what the date is?"

"Yeah it's September 27th, why?" said Chris in a completely passive voice, although if looked at closely there was definite humour on his face.

"And that means nothing to you?" asked Wyatt astonished.

"Well I suppose it does sort of ring a bell," said Chris while scratching his chin. He then looked at Wyatt and let a huge grin break out.

"You're an ass," stated Wyatt when he saw the grin appear on his brother's face. "An absolute ass."

"Who? Me?" asked Chris innocently pointing to himself. He then grinned once more and headed towards the door. Before he was completely out of the room he turned his head back and said in a laughing voice, "By the way, Happy Birthday big brother."

"Thank you little brother," said Wyatt sarcastically as he followed Chris out of the room.

Chris threw a grin over his shoulder as he turned into the doorway down the hall from his. He walked into the room and across to where his younger brother was lying, appearing to be asleep, on the bed.

"Come on Shawnie, you've got to get up," whispered Chris to the little boy.

"Why?" asked the boy without opening his eyes, "What's so special about to today?" At that Chris grinned over at Wyatt.

"He's only six and you've already corrupted him you ass," said Wyatt looking menacingly at Chris, while Chris laughed at his little brother.

"Me? I think that's the both of our doing's," said Chris, laughter still on his face.

"Well it doesn't matter right now, I need to talk to you Chris," said Wyatt seriously.

"We can talk later Wy', today's our day off and I plan on relaxing, whatever it is it can wait," said Chris. He didn't wait for Wyatt to respond, he simply bent down and swung Shawn up off the bed and onto his back then proceeded to walk out of the room.

"Chris, god you can be annoying, I need to talk to you," said Wyatt as he walked after his brother.

Chris simply ignored him. Wyatt always had issues and they had agreed on birthdays and other days of the like, those issues could wait. He walked downstairs with Shawn happily bouncing along on his back, to where he could smell the wonderful aroma of his mothers cooking. Birthday's, how he loved them, they always meant that he would wake up to a wonderful assortment of breakfast foods.

He walked into the kitchen and the sight that met him as he did so took him completely by surprise. In an instant his playful demeanour that had been evident since Wyatt first entered his room that morning had been replaced with an uptight, closed off one.

"Hello Chris," Leo said from his spot at the table, through a mouth full of pancakes.

Chris kept silent and looked to where his mother was standing by the sink. She was looking at him with worry etched into every line of her face. She didn't say anything but instead sent a pointed look over his shoulder where he knew his brother was standing. He knew Wyatt was behind him holding his breath, wondering what Chris would do once the shock wore off. That pointed look from his mother got the message she wanted him to hear across, it was Wyatt's day, whatever Chris's feelings towards his father were, this was not the day to make them known.

After a moment of silence Chris moved naturally over toward the table as if nothing was wrong and swung Shawn off of his back.

"Hi," he said shortly as he got Shawn settled into his chair.

He heard a distinct sigh of relief come from his brother and saw the small, proud smile that flittered across his mother's lips. Leo, oblivious to the large conversation that just took place between mother and son's, turned to Wyatt and smiled.

"Happy Birthday son, I took the whole day off to be here for you," he said in a rather proud tone. He looked as if he was about to continue talking, but any attempt to do so was shattered as a loud voice filled the manor.

"Where's the birthday boy?" They heard the front door slam shut, and the yells from the entrance way continued, "Has anyone seen him, he's about yay high, wispy blonde hair, adorable blue eyes that make the girls melt like butter." Owen appeared at the entrance to the kitchen. "Anyone seen him?" he asked in an innocent voice, much like the one Chris had used earlier, "It's just that there's this stack of presents out there I'd really like to unload," he said pointing to the living area.

"I'm here daddy!" exclaimed Shawn, raising his hand. The boy then hopped off his seat and tried to run past Owen and out to where he was told the presents were. Before he could get anywhere though Owen bent down and caught him around the middle.

"I don't think you're the birthday boy," said Owen in a playfully sad voice.

"I'm not?" asked Shawn dejected.

"No I don't think so, sorry kid." He then scooped Shawn off the ground and surveyed the room. "Ah, there he is," he said when his eyes landed on Wyatt.

"God dad, you're such a loser," said Chris shaking his head. Nobody even noticed the surprise that appeared on Leo's face as that statement was said.

Owen ignored that comment and continued with his fun. "The big one five today huh kiddo." He bent down and pinched Wyatt's cheek in a decidedly Grandma like fashion, who was looking up at him trying for his life to keep disgust on his face, but the amusement that wanted to be there was seeping through.

"Now I remember the day you were born as if it were yesterday," he began in a voice that too resembled that of an old lady's, before been interrupted by Paige, who had just appeared at the kitchen door.

"Owen, you do realise you weren't at his birth," she stated rather amused at the scene she had stumbled upon.

"Well yes," he said looking up at her, his voice back to normal for the moment, "But I do remember the day well. The 27th of September 2002, I had an iron thrown at my head that day. You see my girlfriend off four weeks didn't like the fact that I had to work on our one-month anniversary. I had fifteen houses due by the end of the week, what was I supposed to do? Anywho so we broke up, and that was the day I received my first concussion, so yeah I remember it well."

"Piper what did you marry?" said Paige looking towards her sister with a questioning gaze.

"Most of the time I have no idea, sometimes I think he's a Wookie of sorts," she replied shaking her head.

Owen was momentarily distracted, "A wookie?" he asked in disbelief, "As in Chewie?"

"Well yeah you're kind of hairy like one," said Paige while grinning at her brother-in-law.

"And you've got the gut for one." Chris was the attacker this time.

"A few too many beers hey dad," said Wyatt joining in.

"Ok how did this become a personal attack on me?" He turned to Piper. "I liked them so much better when all they could do was giggle, now they have brains of their own. When did this happen?"

"Oh I'm guessing somewhere in that epic story you were about to tell," said Piper laughing.

"Right the story," said Owen. "I remember the day I met you like it was yesterday," he said bringing back his old lady voice. "Is that better?" he asked Paige in a mock annoyed tone. She just held up her hands as if to surrender. Owen went to continue but was interrupted by Wyatt.

"Oh dad, please shut up. I'm too old for this now." Wyatt and Chris, who had both finished their breakfast while the chatter had been going on, hopped off their stools and headed towards the living area.

"Come on dad, I want to see what Wyatt got for his birthday," said Chris while taking Shawn from him. The three boys then left the room.

Owen turned to Piper, "But I didn't even get to the part where I say what a cute little six year old he was when I met him, so small like Shawnie."

"Oh sweetie, there's always next year," said Piper while wrapping her arms around her dejected husband.

"Mmm I suppose so. I'll do it in front of his friends next year to make up for this." Owen turned his head toward the table. "Hi Leo," he said brightly before wrapping his arms around his wife and leading her out of the room.

Once they were gone Paige turned to Leo, "Are you going to come watch him open the presents?" she asked.

"Um…Yeah I suppose so," he said in an uncertain voice, "Have they always been so natural around each other?" he asked quietly, "Always been able to play around and not take things seriously?"

"Yeah Leo, they have. You see it's part of been a family, you just know some things aren't meant like they sound," stated Paige before shaking her head at the clueless man and walking out after everyone else.

The day went by in a steady motion. By that afternoon the manor was alive with people trying to set up for the party due to take place later in the evening. Chris had spent the majority of the day avoiding his father and putting on a happy, relaxed face for Wyatt. On many occasions Leo looked to want to come and talk with him, but Chris always found a reason to leave the scene before the man had gotten too close. However as he strung a streamer and stapled it to the wall of the entryway he saw Leo making his way towards him. He couldn't get away this time as it were only he and Leo in the room so he bit his lip, sucked in his pride and turned to face the man he had once referred to as daddy.

"How are you doing Chris?" Leo asked trying to sound concerned. "We haven't really had a chance to talk in a while, I thought maybe we could catch up for a bit," he stated rather sullenly.

"I'm fine," Chris said shortly. The look on Leo's face as he said this made him feel slightly guilty so he elaborated a bit. "We won our game on the weekend," he said trying to create a topic to talk about.

"Really? That's great! Did you hit a home run?" asked Leo relieved that Chris had continued the conversation.

Chris couldn't do anything but stare at his father. It had been two years since he last played baseball. He had absolutely loved the game but in a demon attack he had received an injury to the shoulder that prevented him from been able to pitch and swing a bat properly, so he had finally given into his best friend Ryan's pleas and joined his soccer team, and in the process found a far greater love.

Chris shook his head sadly and decided to just answer the question reminding himself that he had to be strong for Wyatt.

"Yeah I did, hit it right out of the park," he said, a false smile playing at his lips. He went to continue, deciding that if he was going to lie why not do it well and make himself the hero of the game, but was interrupted by someone from behind clearing his throat. He swung his head around and immediately a true smile broke out on his face.

"Ryan! Kel! What are you doing here so early," he asked as he jumped down off the stool he was standing on.

"That would be my mother's fault," said Kel, "She thinks if we're going to something we weren't supposed to be invited to and eating at said event, we can at least earn our food and help set up. You know it's as if she thinks we don't deserve to eat." Ryan sent Chris a pointed look and rolled his eyes at Kel.

"Always the one for overdramatising things hey Kel," Ryan chuckled. He looked past Chris to where Leo was standing and held out his hand, "Hi, I'm Ryan, and you are?" he asked innocently.

"I'm Leo, Chris's father," replied Leo, taking the boy's offered hand. He didn't realise that the strength coming from Ryan's end of the shake dropped considerably when he uttered the word 'father'.

"Should have known," said Kel with a fake cheerfulness, "You look so much like Wyatt." She didn't look at Leo as she said this but at Chris. From everything she had heard about Chris's real father she had developed a deep dislike of the man and was not pleased to see him standing where he was. She was worried about how close Chris and Leo were in proximity to each other, and the look of disgust on Chris's face didn't do anything to ease her worry.

The conversation was broken up by a loud noise bounding down the steps. After a moment of waiting Wyatt and Shawn came into view.

"Oh sexy girl," said Shawn, pointing at Kel.

At that Kel's face lit up and Chris, Wyatt and Ryan all burst out laughing. Wyatt looked at Chris and noticed that under the amusement there was a definite redness to his cheeks. Wyatt then looked down at his youngest brother and saw that Shawn also noticed that tinge of red and silently gave him five.

"How you doing Shawnie?" asked Kel amused.

"I'm good," he responded with a wide grin. He then walked up to her and watched while she bent down to his level and then proceeded to give her a big kiss on the cheek.

It was obvious that the two had done this before. Shawn walked out of the room looking quite pleased with himself and the group fell into laughter.

"Ah dad, I actually just came down to get you, we needed you upstairs," said Wyatt once the laughter had died down, "I would have just um… called down but we have guests," he said looking pointedly at Kel and Ryan.

"Oh please Wyatt, don't act like a human being on our account," said Kel sarcastically.

"I'll remember that advice, thanks Kel," he answered back with equal sarcasm. He then turned and headed back upstairs, Leo following in his wake.

Once they were gone Kel and Ryan both dropped the act and turned to Chris.

"That's your dad?" asked Ryan amazed, "He almost looked normal."

"Well don't be fooled," snapped Chris heatedly.

"Oh don't worry we weren't. We happened to catch that little conversation you guys had," said Kel, glaring up the stairs to where she assumed Leo now was.

"Yeah what's with that? You haven't played baseball in ages Chris, you're a soccer dude like me now," Ryan exclaimed.

"Yeah I know," stated Chris vaguely before planting a grin on his face. "It's actually a pity you turned up when you did, I had this whole hero story ready to tell him."

"What's happened to you Chris?" asked Kel while grinning at him, "When we first met you you were so sweet and innocent and couldn't lie for quid, now you have elaborate stories ready to roll off your tongue."

"Dad's taught me well," he said with another grin, before quickly changing the topic, "Come on, lets go see if we can nick some of the silly string, mom can't have eyes and ears everywhere."

"I heard that Christopher!" yelled Piper from up the stairs.

"You know, I think your mother just might," stated Ryan while Kel nodded along, her startlingly blue eyes wide with shock.

A/N: Ok that was just a nice little chapter before everything starts going to hell, and it will in about two chapters time, I promise you that. I just want to say, thank you for reading, and please oh please leave a review. I tell you I'm not liking this new hit thing this place has going, the ratio between the number of people that read this and the number that review is seriously depressing. Anywho, the next chapter should be up soon, stay tuned, and once again, please review.

Next chapter is the actual birthday party, and Chris finally getting some feelings about Leo off his chest.


	17. Fathers and Dads

Disclaimer: I don't own Charmed nor do I have anything to do with its production. I just wrote this story.

Chapter Sixteen ---

Balloons cluttered the living room, streamers hung from every available spot on the walls. Party pies, party sausage rolls and other general party food now adorned the tables set out for the teenagers to feast upon. The party was not for him, the party had not even begun, but Christopher Halliwell was already having a great time. The fact that he was surprised many people considering the circumstances, namely his father having arrived, but it went a long way in showing them how much the boy had grown.

He ran through the living room, a large smile stretched out across his face, silly string caked onto his head, his best friends, both similar in their appearance, chasing him as he ran. Chris dodged around chairs, crawled under tables and made any and all balloons in his path take flight. After much effort the two chasing caught up with their friend. The first, Ryan, grabbed his arm and restrained him from breaking away, the other, Kel, wielding a new can of silly string, attacked.

Yellow collided with the green already adorning his body. He cast a quick glance to his left where Ryan was standing, still restraining him. A short, silent conversation was had and both boys nodded their heads ever so slightly, identical gleams appearing in their eyes. A beat passed then the plan was put into action. Ryan let go, Chris grabbed at the bottle, Ryan grabbed Kel and Chris attacked. Kel let out a high-pitched scream which caused many in the manor to come running.

"What? What happened?" asked Piper, slightly frantic as she skidded to a halt before them.

The sight that met he eyes caused a smile to appear on her face, although it was quickly replaced with a frown. Her son was all but lying on top of the girl who had screamed, legs holding down hers, left arm pushing her right to the floor. His right hand held a can of green silly string and he was pouring the contents of that can all over her. To their right Ryan was stepping back from the pair, figuring he wasn't needed for this part of the attack.

When he heard her questions Ryan walked up to Piper and whispered, "Do you think he will let me be best man at the wedding or do you think it'll be Wyatt or Shawn?"

Piper shot the boy an amused look before turning back to her son.

"Chris, get off the poor girl. And you Kel, I thought your mother dropped you off to help not to terrorize my son," she said, fighting hard to keep the amusement out of her voice and the frown on her face.

"Sorry Piper," Kel grinned up at her from under Chris clearly not meaning her words.

"Yeah sorry mom," said Chris, inclining his head slightly towards his mother's direction, though making no move to get up.

Kel however saw this slight distraction of Chris's as an opportunity and quickly rolled Chris off her, gaining the upper hand. She then bent down close to him and whispered some words not heard by the other occupants of the room. A split second later they were both on their feet and chasing Ryan back the way they'd come. Piper just stood there and shook her head, a small smile playing at her lips.

Leo, who had arrived in the room at the same time as her, looked at her confused.

"Aren't you going to tell him off? He just completely ignored you," he asked.

"Not completely," she said defending her son. "Let him have his fun Leo, he isn't hurting anyone."

"But he's wasting decorations and making a huge mess," he stated, thinking surely Piper would find something wrong with this. He hadn't spent a full day at the manor in a very long time and this stay was proving to be quite educational.

"Oh don't be silly, I brought that for him, he's always loved playing with it, and he's a teenager, of course he's making a mess," said Piper waving him off. She sighed and continued, "You always have to find something wrong with him Leo, just please do me a favor and keep away from him, he's happy, just leave him be." Piper walked away before he could even think about replying.

Some time past and the guests began to arrive. The party consisted of two parts. First there was the dining room and kitchen where all adult guests were situated and then there was the rest of the downstairs area where all the children were situated.

In the dining room Piper, Owen, Victor and Leo sat conversing, while Phoebe, Les, Nick and Paige sat at the other end of the table in their own conversation. All the chatter was brought to an abrupt standstill however, when a mass of blue orbs began to appear above Paige's lap.

"Hi sweetie," Paige said to her four year old once she fully materialized, "Did you orb away from daddy?"

"Sorry mommy," the girl said before she had even been admonished. "He's coming right now, see," she said pointing towards where her father was walking hurriedly through the house.

"Pate!" exclaimed Kyle once he entered the room, "Don't do that to daddy ok, you can't keep scaring me like that!" He then bent down a gave his wife a quick kiss hello, "Sorry I'm late by the way, I meant to help with the setup but Bane called just when I was about to leave."

"Don't mention it," said Owen waving him off, "How is he anyway? I haven't spoken with him in a while."

"Good, or so he says. Apparently he's found himself a new lady friend. He tells me the woman in New York aren't all that bad," said Kyle smiling at his brother's words.

Piper noticing how still Paige had gone at the mention of Bane, decided to turn the conversation elsewhere.

"Is that for Wyatt?" she asked indicating the package in his hand.

"Yeah it is," he responded, "So where is the birthday boy?"

"My guess would be in front of a mirror somewhere. Not a hair on that gelled head of his can be out of place when his women arrive. Gets that from his mother I think," said Owen humorously.

"Oh please, like you're any better," said Phoebe while Piper ruffled her husband's hair, smiling as he tried to bat her hand away.

"Mommy I'm going to go find Prue and Patty ok," said Patience. She didn't wait for a response, she just smiled and orbed away.

"She does realize she can't do that when the non-magic folk start arriving," Victor asked Paige.

"God I hope so." Off Piper's look she sighed and hopped up off her chair, "Alright alright I'm on it."

"So how is everyone anyway?" asked Kyle once his wife had left the room.

"Are you kidding? My house is about to be taken over by thirty fifteen year olds, half of them magical, and three very rambunctious thirteen year olds have already taken a slight hold. And then there is the little ones, who judging by who they spawned off will be just as bad," said Piper slightly hysteric.

"Kids from magic school are coming? I thought Wyatt had issues with them," said Kyle whiling taking his seat.

"No the ones his age are fine, it's the older ones who get him all riled up," said Piper with a heavy sigh.

Soon enough the teenagers had arrived and the other half of the party was in full swing. The music pounding through the walls was causing Piper to wince every few seconds while the others laughed at her. The three sisters' had secluded themselves to one end of the table while everyone else sat talking in their own conversations on the other side. Since they had each gotten their own families they hadn't had the time they used to have to really just sit down and be the sisters they once were, a fact which hadn't sat well with any of the three. Therefore they took advantage of events just like this one to catch up.

"You know been an empath can really suck sometimes, there is far too much joy in this house right now," said Phoebe while rubbing her head.

"Oh don't be such a party pooper," said Paige frowning at her sister.

"Yeah Pheebs, I think we all deserve a little joy after all we have been through," Piper stated.

"I know but that doesn't take away my right to complain," said Phoebe.

"So how are you and Les these days anyway?" asked Paige.

"We're good, everything's great," Phoebe answered though she didn't sound very enthused.

"Alright, spill, what's going on," Piper demanded.

"It's nothing big. I mean we're happy together, we still love each other, us three barely fight demons anymore, I have two beautiful little girls and I have a great job that basically makes me a celebrity. Everything's just perfect."

"And that's the problem," stated Paige with a knowing gaze.

"How did you…?" Phoebe asked surprised that she understood.

"Oh honey we've both been through it, we were actually surprised it took you so long," said Piper.

"Us three have had just a little too much action in our lives, so much so that normal seems really boring," said Paige while patting Phoebe on the arm.

"So this is what just a phase or something?" asked Phoebe glad that she wasn't alone in this.

"Yeah, just relax, wait till your kids become teenagers, then you'll start been messed up again," said Piper.

The conversation was stopped from going any further when Phoebe's six-year-old Prue burst into the room.

"Mommy, mommy," the little girl exclaimed running up to Phoebe, "Shawn froze my water and now it's stuck in the glass," she whined looking up at her mother as if expecting her to fix it. Phoebe however just turned to Paige.

"How come we never thought of doing that?" she asked inspecting the ice in the glass her daughter had handed her. "It just froze solid, became ice."

"Well that's generally what water does when it's frozen," said Paige sarcastically.

"Yeah but…whenever we needed ice cubes and we didn't have them, we could have just gotten Piper to freeze water."

"Phoebe!" Paige exclaimed sending a pointed look at Prue who was looking at her mother wondering why she wasn't helping her.

"Oh right, Piper…"

She never got the chance to ask her to reprimand her son as Piper was already across the room with her head poked out into the living area.

"Shawn Parker Johnson!" she yelled, her voice loud enough that the entire party stopped to look at her. "Would you come in here for a moment please?" she asked in such a sweet voice that it made her son gulp.

"Jees, what did you do?" Wyatt asked as Shawn sent him a pleading look.

"Aw Shawnie, are you in trouble," Kel teased laughing at the boy who was taking the smallest steps possible to where his mother was standing. The crowd laughed then turned back to what they were doing.

"Shawn, reverse the water now," Piper demanded once he was inside the room. Once he had doneit she continued, "Do you want me to slip a binding potion in your drink? Because I'll do it if you keep this up."

"I'm sorry mommy, please let me keep my powers," Shawn pleaded. "I promise I won't do it again."

"Well alright, you can just stay in here for a little while then, you're not getting off scott free mister," Piper stated calming down. Prue smirked at him and once again left the room.

Barely five minutes had passed before Piper got so fed up with his squirming that she decided to just let him go. He was out the door in a flash and not a second passed before Chris came barreling into the room red-faced and sweaty.

"Hey sweetie, you having fun?" Piper asked.

"Yeah it's great. Hi Aunt Phoebe, Aunt Paige," said Chris giving each of his aunts a kiss on the cheek.

"God Chris I know I just live next door but it feels like ages since I last saw you. You've grown so much, you look more like Piper every day," said Phoebe while giving him an extra hug.

"Hear that Perry, I told you you look like a girl, didn't want to believe me though," said Ryan who had followed Chris into the room. "Piper I've got to ask, what's with these middle names you've given your sons?"

"Hey what's wrong with Wyatt's?" asked Paige.

"Oh there's nothing wrong with that one Paige, you know I think anything that comes from you is simply gorgeous," he said as he threw a wink in her direction.

"Can you please stop trying to chat up my aunt?" asked Chris pretending to be annoyed. Ryan ignored him and kept smiling at Paige while she glared at him playfully.

"Well what's wrong with the other's?" asked Piper rolling her eyes at the two. Ryan had been trying to flirt with Paige since he was five years old, much like Shawn had been doing with Kel.

"Perry and Parker, are you kidding me? The insults practically write themselves. Now I have become accustomed to, you might even say fond of, Perry while overusing it, but Parker, jees louise is all I can say."

"Well you can blame Perry on Leo and Parker, well it runs in the family to have names starting with P," said Piper defending her name choice.

"Yeah whatever. Look Perry, I just came in here to say goodbye, the folks are out front waiting."

"Oh ok, I'll see you Monday morning then," said Chris.

"Bright and early right."

"Yeah, cya." They knuckle-knocked and he left.

Once he was gone Leo, who had been watching the exchange from the other side of the room, came down to join them.

"So we didn't get to talk much before Chris," he stated, completely oblivious once again to the change in Chris's demeanor. "Maybe we can go sit down somewhere and catch up a bit." The man was obviously trying so Chris relented.

The two walked away from the women and sat down to their own private conversation. Piper watched them go with worry stretching across her features. Chris had forgiven Leo once, she didn't know if he could do it again, and she had absolutely no idea how he would react if asked.

"So how's school going?" Leo asked awkwardly. He had no idea how to talk to this boy.

"Its good, well recess and lunchtime are I suppose," stated Chris rigidly.

"It seems like you have found yourself some good friends, " Leo said, grasping at anything to talk about.

"Yeah Kel and Ryan are great. I've got more, but they're the best."

"They seemed nice."

There was an awkward pause as Chris saw Kel slip into the room. When Kel's eyes landed on Chris she walked hurriedly up to Piper.

"What's going on?" she asked furiously, "He doesn't need this."

Chris, not hearing her words but knowing exactly what she was saying, smiled softly. He decided to help Leo out who was obviously stumped, unable to find another subject.

"It's good you could get today off for Wyatt. I know he liked that you did and we both know how busy you get so it was good," he said struggling to keep the envy out of his voice.

"I tried to be here for your birthday as well but I couldn't get away," he stated quite panicked.

"No you didn't," mumbled Chris.

"What? Of course I did," defended Leo.

"Don't pretend like you care. If I fall for it again I don't know how I'll pick myself up when you disappoint me again." His eyes were on the floor and his voice was still a mumble.

"Chris I wanted to be here. I'm your father, of course I did. I wrote you a letter didn't I?"

"Don't pretend."

"Chris I did, stop been so stubborn and just believe me," Leo snapped, losing his cool.

"I said don't pretend," yelled Chris. The yell went unnoticed by the party beyond the dining room but every occupant of the room turned to look at them. Chris, noticing this, dropped his voice to a low growl.

"If you wanted to be here you would have been. If there were a life or death emergency your letter would have come sooner than six weeks after. If you actually cared about me you'd know a little bit of information, at least enough to hold a proper conversation with me, and you would not have to ask me questions to find out how I'm doing at school, you wouldn't get the sport I play wrong. You haven't once shown me that you care, so don't pretend that you do."

"I tell you what Leo," he continued with his rant after a heavy sigh, his voice softer, sadder now rather than angry. "You don't have to feel guilty about me anymore, you don't have to worry about the son you never cared about because it doesn't matter to me anymore. I don't care anymore. I have a father who cares about me, loves me even, I don't need you. You can do whatever you want from now on, you can come to a birthday party of mine, or a soccer game, whatever you want and I won't even bat an eyelid because I don't care. I can stand here and say that I forgive you, absolve you of all your sins, but I will never let you build up any sort of a relationship with me because I don't want one. I don't want to know you. Goodbye Leo." And with that Chris turned and ran from the room, Kel following in his wake.

Kel ran down the street chasing her dark haired best friend, tears glistening in her eyes at the thought of the pain he was in at the moment. Finally she saw him turn in the park two streets from his house. When she caught up with him she found him kicking a trash can with all his might, almost knocking it off the post it was attached to.

"God Karate really messed you up hey Chris," she began, making her presence known. "You can't even kick the crap out of a bin without doing it looking like a pro."

He kept his back to her, "Go home Kel, your mom should be there by now."

"Not until you talk to me," Kel stated defiantly.

"There's nothing to talk about," said Chris shortly.

"Of course there is. We could start with you telling me what the hell you even began talking to him for before I just get annoyed and knock some sense into you."

There was a moment of silence and Chris finally relented.

"You know when he wanted to talk to me today I got a little excited. This guy who has never given a crap about me before wanted to talk to me and then he went and screwed it up. First he thinks I play baseball then he doesn't even know how to have a conversation with me. But I'm over it now."

"No your not," stated Kel calmly. "If you were over it you wouldn't be out here kicking a bin to bits, you'd be inside having a good time."

Chris finally turned around and his broken appearance almost broke Kel's heart. She gently led him over to the swinging chair that was attached to the largest tree in the area.

"It just hurts so much but I don't know why, I should be used to it by now," he said, his body shaking as he did so.

"It hurts you because he is your father and despite knowing better you love him."

"He's not my dad," said Chris rather defensively, "I have one and a good one at that."

"Chris he's not your dad but he is your father, nothing can ever change that fact. And because of that you look to him for acceptance, you want him to be proud of you because you know he is supposed to be. Owen is most defiantly your dad but Leo is your father. For most people those two figures are the same person, but for you it's different. Leo will always be your father, or at least he will be until you can stop looking to him for acceptance, till when those words you said to him tonight are actually true." She sighed softly and rubbed his back to comfort him.

"I wish I didn't care," said Chris softly, "I wish he meant nothing to me but it still hurts. I just wish it would all stop hurting. You know he hasn't been to a birthday party of mine since I was two years old. How can I still care what someone like that thinks?"

"You just do. I can't explain it but you just do. I think part of it might be that you know that he isn't always like that because of how he treats Wyatt but other than that I don't know."

"I guess your right about that. Wyatt has two dads but just one father. He sees Leo completely different from the way I see him because he's always had a proper relationship with him. He still loves dad, Owen, though because dad is always there for him, dad lives with us and makes mom so happy."

"It's times like these that I feel like I'm three years old again. You know my earliest memory of Leo is that Christmas when I was three. He left us alone and I broke my arm and when he came back he yelled at me. I feel exactly the same as I did back then when he says things to me." Chris reached up and wiped a tear that was threatening to fall down his face away.

Kel had no idea what to say to that so she simply hugged him. As she did that his hard demeanor dropped and his body collapsed onto hers. He didn't cry, he wouldn't let himself but as she held him in her arms his troubles seemed to dissipate. They didn't know how long they held each other like that for but eventually they we broken apart by someone clearing their throat. Once they were apart Chris immediately missed the circles that Kel had been drawing on his back. At the time he hadn't even noticed she was doing it but now it was gone he wished she'd just begin again.

"Kel I'll take it from here if that's ok, your mothers waiting over at the road." It was his mother.

"Sure Piper, thanks for having me," she said as she pecked Piper on the cheek.

"Always a pleasure." The two left at the scene watched Kel leave. Once she was out of site Piper turned back to her son. "I was listening, sorry." Rule number one, never keep anything from Chris, he didn't like it when he found out. "I just didn't want to interrupt."

"It's ok," said Chris softly.

"I heard what you said. You're not my baby boy anymore are you, you have really grown up lately Chris." She sighed and took the seat beside him. "I know you don't want to talk about it again, once has always been enough with you, but I want you to know that I'm here for you alright." Chris nodded and she continued. "I'll always be here for you whenever you need me." Once again he nodded. "I love you sweetie."

"I love you too mom, I always will, you have always been there for me, you don't need to remind me of that." He sighed and looked to the floor, "He's never been there and I won't believe him if he ever promises to be."

"I know honey and I'm sorry for that."

"It's not your fault mom, it never has been." Chris turned to look at his mother but as he did a figure in the distance caught his eye. "I don't want to go home right now mom, can I just go to magic school, get lost in the library or something?"

"If that's what you want, do you want me to come with you?" she asked.

"No, go back to Wyatt, as you said it's his day."

"Chris… Oh come here sweetie," she sobbed softly as she pulled her son into a hug, "Just be home before midnight alright, that's when the older kids are going home."

"I promise." Piper nodded and watched her son orb away. As soon as he was gone she broke down, tears cascaded from her eyes. She couldn't believe the pain her baby had been through in his life, he was only thirteen years old. Her dad hadn't exactly been father of the year but at least he had treated all of them equally, no one was favored over another.

A moment after he left Chris arrived at magic school and his Aunt Prue materialized a second after him.

"Oh Chris…" she pulled him against her and finally he broke.

His sobs echoed through the stone room as his body collapsed to the floor. Prue looked down at him, tears running down her own cheeks, and orbed him across to the sofa on the other side of the room. Prue was the only person who he didn't mind letting his guard down for. She was, as far as the majority of the family was concerned, dead. And that fact made her completely removed from the situation. She became his confident and helped him through all the tough times that life dealt him. Eventually Chris calmed down enough to be able to simply sit and talk with his aunt, only hiccupping every now and again.

"You know that place you were at tonight, that's where my boyfriend from high school and I used to meet. It was our secret hideaway. Seeing you and Kel there tonight brought back some memories."

"Me and Kel, where not like that, we're just friends you know?" Chris asked, slightly alarmed at the thought that anyone could think anything differently.

"Yeah I know Chris, you've been best friends since you were little." Prue shook her head thinking that Chris had inherited something from Leo after all, they were both oblivious.

"Now are you going to help me with any of my research? You've only got about twenty minutes before you have to be home, you could at least make yourself useful while you're here," she said nudging him up off the couch.

"I suppose I could," said Chris looking toward the tables where thick volumes of dusty old books were laid out.

"While you guys have been down there all carefree and happy the elders have been getting anxious. They know something big is coming, they just don't know what."

"Didn't you say you thought it was the Avitars?" questioned Chris.

"Yeah but we ruled them out. Now we just know that there is someone who is organizing the underworld, getting troops of darklighters, attacking whitelighters, stealing their powers. The only thing is we're stumped because they aren't using the orbing to get into 'elder land' as your mother so nicely calls it," said Prue thinking it best to get his mind on something other than his family.

"Why didn't you ever get married Aunt Prue?" asked Chris, completely changing the course of the conversation. "It's not like you can use been a whitelighter as an excuse because we all know people have defied those rules before."

"Chris the man I love died even before I did. That boy from high school, he is the only man I have ever and will ever truly love. I can't marry anyone else. I will always love Andy, nothing can change that," said Prue looking sadly at her nephew.

"I think I should go home now," stated Chris rather solemnly.

"Alright," said Prue while shutting the book she had opened earlier. "Just remember, I'm just an orb away whenever you need me alright?"

"Of course." He gave he a quick kiss on the cheek then orbed home.

The next morning Chris woke to find the manor already buzzing with activity. As he walked down the stairs, still clad in his checked pajamas, he saw his little brother and cousins running around the living room. As he came to the bottom his mother arrived in the room.

"Good morning sweetie," she said smiling at him softly. She was about to say something more when her eye caught onto Owen, who was currently frozen solid.

"Shawn!" she yelled at her youngest son. She was cut off from saying anything more by the little boy who wanted to defend himself.

"It wasn't me I swear mommy," he stated with a wide look of innocence on his face. "It was Prue, she channeled my powers."

"Nah, it was Shawn," Pate exclaimed.

"It was herAunt Piper, I saw her do it," stated Patty.

"Tattle tale," said Prue poking her tongue out at her older sister.

"Someone's got to keep you in line," Patty shot back.

Chris just smiled as he walked past them and into the kitchen. Everything at the manor was back to normal. The events of yesterday could be forgotten, he was happy again, free again.

A/N: Ok so this was kind of long. Sorry about that to the people who don't like to read long fic's and your welcome to those like me who think the longer the better. Hope you enjoyed it and to all you guys who reviewed, thank you, it really means a lot to me. Anyway, please keep them coming. God knows I love them. Hope you liked this. I tried to answer your questions in it. I think its better that way rather then me just telling you.


	18. Yesterday

Disclaimer: I don't own charmed or have anything to do with it, I just wrote this story.

The air was crisp. A new day had begun. The house, so often alive with laughter and noise, was silent. He crept through the house, careful not to wake any of its occupants. A quick look into each of his brother's rooms told him that they were still asleep. Each slept in distress. Tear tracks from the night before still were painted onto Shawn's face. His parent's room was empty, the bed was made, un-slept-in, nothing less than he had expected that.

He walked out of the still, silent house and into the happy lively street. He was dressed in his soccer uniform, black and gold, the color of his team. A bag was slung over his shoulder and boots, tied at the laces, slung around his neck.

He walked through the street, his face was stoic, his eyes were withdrawn. He appeared disorderly, his dark hair was stuck up and messy, his clothes crinkled, as if he had slept in them. He could see the sun. It was on the horizon, high in the sky, sending rays of happiness throughout the world. The birds fluttered from tree to tree, playing and chirping loudly.

He did not see the happiness the world around him was creating. He did not see the children in the street laughing while they ran. He did not see the dog that was chasing a teasing bird. He did not see the woman in her front yard digging a garden, smiling as her two toddlers tried to help. He only saw the road he walking on. His mind did not think of anything other than the game he must get to, he wouldn't allow it anything else.

Finally he arrived at the soccer field. He saw a boy run up to him, but he did not truly see him. He saw the boys' mouth move as he yelled excitedly.

"Perry! Why are you so late? The game starts in five minutes."

But he did not hear him. He simply sat down on the bench and swapped his shoes for his boots. As he did this the boy beside him babbled excitedly, muttering something about a party, but he did not listen, instead concentrating on tying his laces. He heard the whistle blow in the center of the field. He stood up. He was ready to go.

As he walked away from the bench he remembered something. He spun back around quickly and looked back at where he had been sitting. That was where his family sat every week. He could see his mother sitting there, her hand clasped in his dads, his brothers beside them. His mother cheering, the boy's yelling obscenities at the other team, his mother slapping his dad, playfully reprimanding him. The bench was empty today. He vaguely heard the boy, who he had come to recognize as Ryan, ask where they were. He didn't answer, he just turned and continued walking. This time though, he had a fire in his eyes. He was angry, they weren't there, they should have been there.

He stood in the middle of the field looking past the opposition, not really seeing them. The handshakes took place and the game began. He played hard, his anger driving him to go in harder then ever before. He got the ball and ran with it. He kicked it, the keeper stopped it but he continued running and the keeper dropped it. He saw his fathers face on the ball and he put his boot to it harder then he ever had before. It hit the back of the net. The team cheered and jumped on him, the sideline went up, hands in the air. He looked to the bench. It was still vacant. Not even a hint of a smile appeared on his face.

There was a woman watching him from afar. Dark hair, blue eyes, eyes which held only remorse. She looked at him sadly. She knew what he was doing and she pitied him for having to do it. She couldn't intervene, couldn't stop him. She desperately wanted to, he was hurting only himself, but she could not.

Half time came and then the game continued in much the same way. His teammates had cottoned onto the fact that there was something wrong with him, that he was angry about something but they were boys, they didn't pry. They thought he was dealing with it in the right way, taking it out on the field rather than doing something self-destructive, so they let him be.

He saw something out of the corner of his eye, white lights forming over in the far corner of the park. He held his breath, waiting to see who it was, no longer paying attention to the game. When the form took shape his eyes met those of the two who had appeared. For a second his anger evaporated and there was only sadness in his eyes. The second passed quickly though and he looked away, turning his attention back to the game. As he continued to play he heard his aunt yelling from the side of the field.

"Chris, come on you know this isn't going to help, putting it off will not stop the pain," Phoebe said in a strangled voice.

He ignored her and kept going, harder and more violently then he was before. He saw his other aunt, Paige, quietly conversing with his coach. The quick snap of the head and pained look his way was enough to tell him that she Paige had explained what was wrong.

He ignored the look and kept playing except now he wasn't seeing the game, he was seeing yesterday. The events he desperately wanted to wish untrue were playing out in his minds eye.

Yesterday, for the most part it had been a perfect day, exactly what he wanted from it. He had awoken to a feast, his mothers birthday cooking. Presents had been excitedly ripped open, his dad had been his usual dork self. He had gone to school with a full stomach, red cheeks from where they had been pinched in a decidedly grandma like fashion, and a wet forehead. A remnant of the happy kiss his mother had given him while exclaiming how she couldn't believe how big her baby had gotten.

At school he mucked around with his friends and got sent out of science first. There was always a competition between him Ryan and a few of the other guys to see who could get on the temperamental teachers nerves first. The school day had ended and he had met up with Wyatt and Shawn before heading to magic school. And that is where the day lost its charm.

Once they arrived at magic school he had realized he had left his potions book at home so he quickly orbed to his bedroom to retrieve it. He would have orbed straight back had it not been for the noises he had heard coming from below.

He could still hear the scream that had sent him running. It was a high-pitched scream that sent shivers up his spine, but worse than that it was his mothers scream. Forgetting he possessed powers that could get him there in less than a seconded, he had run, stumbled down the stairs and appeared on a scene he wished he had never seen.

He could see her face as if she were right in front of him now. Fright was etched all over her beautiful features. Her eyes had met his and in an instant there was only worry for his safety in them, the fear was gone. She had been lying on the floor, in the middle of their living room, a demon standing above her, one which looked deceivingly like a darklighter, but which possessed power far worse than that. It was killing her.

He had tried to run forward, to help her, he knew he could, he had the power to do it, but he was stopped. Arms had wrapped around his middle, pulling him back. He could remember the voice of the man who had stopped him, hear it, feel the soft blow of air as he spoke near his ear.

"What do you think you're doing?" The voice had been so angry. He had recognized it instantly. It was his father. It was Leo. "You don't have the power to help, stay out of the way." And then he had been pushed away, so hard that he slid along the ground for a couple of meters before coming to a halt.

He didn't see what Leo did to try and help, by the time he had recovered for his shock Leo was lying flat on the floor unconscious and the demon had disappeared.

He had run then, blindly to his mother's side. Her eyes were open and she had stared at him weakly. She was dying and he had known it. He had placed his hands over her and the white light had come but it didn't heal her.

Her hand had slowly risen, touching his cheek, attempting to wipe away the tears that kept pouring out of his eyes.

"I love you baby," she had rasped out with much difficulty, "Don't ever forget that."

"No mum," he had pleaded, "Don't do this, you can't leave me, mum." He had continued to cry, lying his head on her chest, "Come on mum, you can't leave me, I love you, why can't I heal you?"

He had continued to moan her name, but she had let go. When she finally did he had screamed. Sometime during that time Leo had woken up and was looking down at them, tears pouring out of his own eyes. He had not looked up at the man but had heard his words, words that would haunt him for the rest of his life.

"If you hadn't distracted me I could have saved her." And with that he had left, left Chris to deal with the death of his mother alone.

The events continued to play out before his eyes and he continued to play his game. He wanted to forget, he needed to, he wouldn't be able to live if he didn't.

He heard the whistle blow signaling the end of the game. The team was in celebration mode, probably also hyped up for his birthday party which was due to take place in an hours time. They formed their usual end of game huddle but he didn't join them. He wanted to be alone. He simply walked over to where his bag was, hid behind a tree, swapped his clothes and then began to walk back to the manor.

As he was leaving the field he heard the hush come over his team and he saw them looking his way. He knew then that they had been informed that there would be no party and that they knew why. He saw his aunts watch him go sadly, deciding that he would be best left on his own for a while.

He walked away from the happiness of the field and back to where he knew the storm clouds hovered. Each step was purposeful and heavy. He walked with a heart so weak and terrified that it made him wonder why he was going back at all. As he walked he had only three things in his mind. There was the promise he had tried to make his mother make, a promise that she never made. He could remember his nine-year-old self, insisting she agree to it.

"Mom I want you to promise me that you will never leave me, I love you to much for you to leave and also I want you to promise me that you'll never scare me like grandpa scared me"

And her reply.

"Chris, baby, I'm not going to promise you that, I can't, because there is a very big chance that I won't be able to keep it and to tell you the truth I don't want to"

He had complained about that answer but she had been insistent.

"I don't want to leave you either Chris, but just think of it like this, I'm here with you right now, I love you right now and even when that day where I leave does come, I'll still be with you here" she patted his heart "and here" she said stroking his head

"You'll always have memories of me and you'll always remember how much I loved you. If you do that you will always feel my presence and it'll be like I never left"

He could remember his little high-pitched voice trying to get at least a little bit of a promise out of her.

"I love you mom, just stay for a really long time ok?"

She hadn't. It had been less than five years since that day. He had turned fourteen yesterday. He had held the hope for those five years that he'd be at least forty before the time came.

She always insisted that she be the one to leave him and not the other way around, she had gotten her wish.

He also, during this walk, had the frightening vision of his mothers weakest moment imprinted in his mind. That moment when she had given up and let herself be taken by death. But by far the worst thing of all was the ringing in his ears as he heard his fathers voice over and over again.

"If you hadn't distracted me I could have saved her."

He continued to walk, just trying to forget his fourteenth birthday, trying to forget yesterday.

A/N: Thank you all so much for reading and thank you kindly for your reviews. Please keep them coming, I'm off to do assignments now, wish me luck.


	19. The Week Before

Disclaimer: I don't own Charmed or have anything to do with it, I just wrote this story.

Walking down stairs was something he had been doing since he was two years old, or at least so he imagined. But on this morning, it seemed like the hardest, most complicated and most forced thing he had ever done.

Reaching the bottom was not something he wanted to achieve, but it was something he had to. Every morning, from this day on, he had to reach the bottom of this particular set of stairs because it was what was expected of him, but more importantly, needed of him. His brother's, two people who he would change the world for, and his dad, a man who was just about to fall apart, needed him to reach the bottom of those stairs and be able to walk through the hall with purpose and no hesitation, because if he didn't they would not be able to.

So he walked down the stairs and when he reached the bottom he did not even glance to his right, he walked through the hallway as if the part of the house to his right did not exist. If he looked at it, even out of the corner of his eye, he knew his whole demeanor would change, he knew the rage he was working so hard to suppress would spill forth.

Even though he did not look at it he could still see what was on his right. He could not see it exactly as it was at that moment but it exactly as it was the week before, last Friday. He could see the broken furniture, the shattered glass. He could see the flowers, lilies his dad had bought his mom, dripping down the wall. He could see his brother, Chris, bent over their mother's body, tears dripping down his cheek and landing on their mother's peaceful, dead face. He could see that brother look up at him as he heard the flowers he himself had thrown against the wall smash, his green eyes boring into the angry blue ones he wore, reflecting only hopelessness. And then his other brother, Shawn, look up at him after finally tearing his dark eyes from their mother, fear etched into every feature of his young face, asking him to make it better, expecting him to be able to do so.

And then his dad, Owen, walking through the door, talking loudly to whoever might be in the house. He could still see him appearing on the scene, tie hooked in his mouth as he tried to take it off without properly undoing it, briefcase in hand and happiness raiding his features as he thought of the weekend of celebrations that was ahead. And then the change, his dad's eyes landing upon the woman he loved so dearly. His demeanor had shifted instantaneously. In that second he had become old, and as Wyatt walked into the kitchen that morning, the morning of his mothers funeral, he noticed that his dad was still old.

He could remember been a little boy and his mother telling Chris and he that the thing she loved most about their new friend Owen was how he always seemed so young, so carefree, and the way he made her feel like that as well, like she was a little girl again, in love for the first time. She had loved his goofiness and the light that goofy youthfulness brought to everything it touched. Today, Wyatt observed, there was none of that man inside of his dad, there was only an old man who had lost his love.

"Morning," he mumbled as he sat down at the kitchen table.

The other occupants of the room, his dad and both his aunts, barely acknowledged his presence. It didn't surprise him. Everyone was too caught up in his or her own grief. Ever since that Friday the week before no one had noticed much of anyone else. No one had even noticed when he had let the rage that was now constantly bubbling away inside of him take over. It happened on that Friday night, right after his dad had appeared on the scene. He had orbed out of the manor and appeared in the underworld, and his anger had been unleashed. He had no idea how many demons he had vanquished that night, but needless to say, any that crossed his path had been turned to dust.

He had come out bloody and worn, but he hadn't finished. Instead of going home he had orbed to the bridge, hoping to find his brother, but instead he had found a broken down father. He had orbed out before been seen, this time to a room in magic school and had wrecked havoc in there. By the time he had returned home the room had been destroyed.

Right at that moment he could feel the monster inside of him growl, yearning for release, but he couldn't let it out, at least not today. Today was the day for remembrance, the day to remember and bury his mother.

Arriving at the cemetery that morning and walking into the room where the service was to take place became something that was harder then walking down the stairs that morning had been, but he did it.

The church was full of so many people, some he knew, many he did not. His family surrounded him as they listened to the female minister perform the service. A brother sat on each of his sides, each clasping one of his hands. Shawn had his head buried in his side, seeking protection from his big brother. Wyatt felt horrible for him, he was only seven years old, he could barley understand the idea of death and he had lost his mother to it. Chris was trying to stay strong but his resolve was buckling as the time ticked away. Their dad at one stage got up and spoke. He spoke through the tears that cascaded down his face and continued to speak when he was sure nobody could understand him, because that is what he felt he owed to his wife. Wyatt missed most of what he said but heard the last few lines.

"We will continue to live because that is what she would have wanted. Our lives will go on because she would have expected us to be just as stubborn as she was. The world will keep going, I will keep living, raising her three beautiful sons, but I will never forget that beautiful angel I met one summers day long ago in a park."

As the service continued his mind drifted away from the time and place he was in and back to a time that seemed centuries before.

He was running, so fast, like he had never run before. He was six, he was at the beach, and he was having a good time. Looking over his shoulder he could see his four year old brother wasn't far behind. A split second later he was on the ground, face planted in the sand.

"I got you Wy'! I got you!" yelled Chris as he jumped on Wyatt's back.

Wyatt looked to his feet and saw the stick that he had tripped over and then he saw the scratch on his leg that that stick had caused. Yelping he jumped to his feet, in the process throwing Chris to the ground, and ran to where his mom was sitting with her new friend Owen.

"Mommy, mommy," he yelled. "Look what happened to my leg!"

"Oh sweetie, it's not that bad," she said while softly rubbing the area.

"But it hurts mommy, can't you wave your magic hand and make it all better?" he whined.

"Oh Wyatt, I don't have a magic hand," she said softly while bringing her head in close to his. "But I do have magic lips." She then whipped her head over to his leg and kissed it over and over again.

Loud giggles burst forth from Wyatt's mouth.

"Oh you see, it can't be that bad if you're laughing now can it," said his mother with a smile.

"Mommy I think you are crazy," stated Wyatt with a small giggle.

"I'm not crazy sweetie, I just know how to make you laugh."

And it was with that memory that the fifteen-year-old Wyatt finally broke down and cried at his mother's funeral, at the same time making a promise within himself that he would stop this from ever happening again. For the first time in his life he was letting the rage take over and he was going to use it, he was going to do great things with it. He was Wyatt Matthew Halliwell-Johnson, the twice blessed child, he could make the world do what ever he wanted and he was going to change it for the two people who were sitting beside him, he would never let them get hurt like this again. It was time he used his powers for what they could be.

Sitting in the seats behind Wyatt, with their hands clasped together and a husband on each of their sides were Phoebe and Paige. They had each lost their sister and neither of them was dealing too well with that fact. Tears streamed down each of their faces as they listened to the minister, watched as she blew out the candles. Both were very aware of the fact that they could very well be joining their sister soon, but at that moment it was not an issue.

Paige was overcome with memories of her big sister, the woman she looked up to in so many aspects of life. The woman, who without knowing it had restored her faith in love.

The memory flooding her vision at the present time was that of when she first saw Piper and deemed her too good to be her sister.

The music was blaring out of the amps, the band making everyone inside of the nightclub move their bodies. She was seated all alone watching three women and a man from afar. Two of the women were huddled together on a couch watching an embrace between one of the women and the man. They were giggling excitedly together, smiling at the obviously in love couple. The woman from far away watched them and ruled out the possibility that they might be her sisters, they just seemed too perfect, too close of a family for there to be a possible dark family secret of a child been given away.

Paige, from her solo seat, watched as the woman that was with the man, Piper, walked towards the bar, towards where she sat. Piper retrieved some drinks and then headed back to where her family sat. Paige, after much internal debate, went to talk to her, to introduce herself, however, just before she reached Piper she changed her mind and turned around sharply, too sharply. Paige bumped into a man and in an attempt to stop herself from falling she grabbed onto the closest thing she could get her hands on. Looking up she saw whom it was she had grabbed onto, Piper, and consequently she had made her spill the drink all over her clothes.

"Oh my God, I'm so sorry about that," said Paige, trying in vain to wipe her skirt clean.

"It's alright," stated Piper laughing, "Nothing could ruin my mood today, I'm engaged…officially," she said glowing.

"Oh, well congratulations," said Paige as she moved aside to let her pass, "Good work Paige, way to go, just drown her in her own drinks next time," she mumbled as she herself walked away.

The memory caused fresh tears to spill from her eyes. If she hadn't of been so stupid she could have had almost a year longer with her sister.

Beside her Phoebe was doing all she could not to remember anything, she didn't want to feel the pain of losing another sister, she didn't want to believe what had happened was real. Funerals were places where you were supposed to accept the death, mourn it and then start to move on, but that wasn't something she felt capable of doing, so instead she built up her own world of denial, trying in vain not to remember her sister.

Just outside of the room where the proceedings were taking place, a third sister stood, her hand clasped in a dark haired mans, tears streaming down her own face, as she looked in on the funeral she should have been able to stop. Her little sister was been said farewell to in that very room and she was powerless to do anything about it.

Guilt was eating away at her insides. She had felt his pain, Chris' pain, when his mother was dying, but it was emotional pain not physical, so she had obeyed the rules and not gone to him. There had been another in the room. At the time she hadn't known who, but someone was there so she hadn't gone. Instead she had stayed exactly where she was, in a room in New York, breaking all kinds of whitelighter rules. The memory of that night was eating away at her very soul.

The air of the room was a happy one. Prue was happy, happier than she had been in a long time. At that moment she had whip cream all over her face and her hands were tied behind her back. She was in the middle of one of the stupidest games she had ever played but she was having a good time. In front of her was a bowl of whipped cream and within that cream were sixteen lollies, the man beside her was in the same position, the game was to get all of the lollies out first.

After much effort she finally got them all out of the bowl only to realize that the man beside her was looking at her with an amused expression and had been for quite some time.

"Alright cowboy, how long have you been finished for?" she asked in a mock annoyed tone.

"Oh only about five minutes," Bane answered calmly.

"Five minutes! You let me keep going for five minutes!"

"Well you were just too damn cute, I couldn't stop you, it wouldn't have been right," he said while smiling charmingly at her. "Think you can forgive me?"

"Well I'll have to think about that one."

"Well maybe I can convince you to," he said as he lent in and began kissing away the cream on her face.

"Bane!" she laughed out.

"What?" he mumbled innocently in between kisses.

Before things got out of hand the phone ringing interrupted them. Groaning Bane answered it.

"Kyle, hey what's wrong?" he said into the phone.

"Oh my God, yeah ok… I'll be on the next flight out… No no, I'll stay at my old apartment… Yeah ok, bye." He hung up.

"What's wrong?" Prue asked concerned.

"Prue, oh god, I don't know how to tell you this," he said, softly stroking her face.

"Is it Paige, did something happen to her?" she asked.

"No it's Piper, she's dead Prue." Bane then took the shocked woman into his arms and tried in vain to comfort her.

That was when the guilt had begun to eat away at her. If only she had gone to Chris when she felt his pain, maybe she could have saved her sister. Standing where she was now, Bane's arms wrapping themselves around her small form, she tried to forget her guilt, but she knew she never would.

The thoughts inside of Bane's head were quite different. He was mourning the loss of a dear friend, but that wasn't the most prominent thing on his mind. The storm had finally come, the power of three was gone, now everything was going to begin to fall apart. The calm was gone and those clouds that hovered were beginning to open up. The storm had begun the week before.

A/N: Thanks for reading and please try to leave a review. Just incase you were wondering, that scene from Paige's memory was taken from the end of the season three episode Blinded by the Whitelighter, and expanded a little bit. I hope you enjoyed this, if you didn't and thought it was the worst thing you have ever read please let me know, I'll be happy for the feedback.

And just one last note, Kota said that Wyatt is two years older than Chris not one. I just wanted to clear that up. Chris was conceived on Wyatt's first birthday so he is therefore one year and nine or ten months older than Chris. The times when in the story Wyatt is only one year older, for example this chapter, that just means the events are taking place during a time when Chris has had his birthday and Wyatt has not. Just wanted to clear that one up.


	20. Their wife

Disclaimer – I do not own charmed or have any part in the show other than boosting the ratings, I just wrote this story.

Chapter 19 –

He stood beneath a tall billowing gum tree. His back slumped against the base, his eyes downcast, withdrawn. In his hand he held a piece of paper. He was staring at it as if engrossed, but his eyes did not see it, they had read the writing many times already, he did not need to read it again.

Around him darkness was invading the world, the sun was setting and night was about to begin. He tried not to notice the shadows encircling him. He stood in a place that was strange to him. For a time now he had avoided the places in which his presence had appeared before the event. In this early evening of the night he stood in a strange place and remembered. He tried with all of his might not to remember, but the slightly crinkled piece of paper he held in his slackened grip made not remembering impossible.

The thoughts possessing his mind centered around one woman, a woman he did not want to have to remember but one in which he would never forget. He blinked and he was in the past.

"What are you doing here?" asked a slightly surprised but happy voice.

The question came from the voice of an angel. As he walked down the stairs of the nightclub his mouth did not move to answer the question, instead his eyes swept the room and took in his surroundings. Except for the one other occupant the room was empty. Nightclubs generally were in the middle of the day.

"Owen?" The angel spoke again.

He still did not answer. Instead a slightly amused appeared on his face. He reached the bottom of the stairs and walked towards her, stopping only inches from her face. He was invading her personal space, he knew that as well as she, but neither made a move to take a step back.

"What are you doing here?" she asked again.

This time though, her voice was raspy, her breath was hitched in her throat. Finally he spoke.

"Can't a guy visit his friend?" he asked not really answering her at all.

"Normally no, but it's you, I'm starting to think there isn't anything you won't do." Her sentence was whispered.

"You're not starting to think that, you've been thinking it for a while, that's what's scaring you."

"Why are you here?" she asked again as she twisted her hands together nervously.

"Got a call from Chris this morning, about five o'clock. Wants me to take him to baseball this afternoon, give him a few pointers before practice, thought I should clear it with you," he replied, holding a steady gaze.

"I'm not scared," she said trying to make herself believe the statement as much as he.

"Prove it," he challenged.

Her eyes flickered to his lips. His did not leave hers. She took a deep breath. Resolve grasped her features. A loud noise burst from the storeroom. The resolve disappeared. Worry took its place. She turned from him. She began to walk away.

"You can pick him up from school if you like," she said, her back walking away.

"Piper…" he said in slight desperation.

She stopped. Her back still turned.

"I'm not scared."

"You are." He took several steps forward and stopped right behind her. "You don't have to be." He spoke as he looked over her shoulder. His breathe tickling her neck.

"I can't, I have responsibilities, Wyatt, Chris."

"I love your kids."

He placed a hand gingerly on her back. She didn't make a move to remove it.

"What if it didn't work? It'll be too complicated, too messy."

"It won't have a chance to be complicated, it's already working." He began rubbing circles on her back and smiled as her body reacted and edged slightly back into his hand. "We just don't get to do the fun stuff," he said trying to keep a lighthearted tone.

"Did you come here with the plan to seduce me?" she asked. He heard the smile in her voice.

"No, I came here to talk about Chris," he answered honestly. "When I saw you though, I just did what came naturally. It's your own fault really, you're too beautiful."

Piper looked at herself through the mirror on the opposing wall. She didn't look beautiful. She was in her oldest pair of jeans, a pair that were ripped at the knees, her hair was a mess, straggly and needed washing, pulled back into a loose ponytail, and her brow was dripping in sweat. She didn't understand how he could see even a remote beauty in that image.

"You're at your most beautiful when you're at your most natural." He had caught her looking and he saw the smile that escaped her lips when he spoke.

She took a deep breath. For a moment she simply stood in the same position and looked at him through the mirror. His soft blue eyes were dancing as they always were. His dark brown hair, usually so perfectly gelled, was a mess. His warm features wore their usual smile.

"Don't hurt me ok," she whispered.

"Wouldn't dream of it." With that said he smiled wickedly and turned and walked away.

Startled, she turned and looked at his retreating form incredulously.

"Where are you going?" she asked, confused.

"Lunch breaks over," he said while throwing a smile over his shoulder.

"You own the company," she stated annoyed.

"Therefore I have to set an example don't I?" He continued to walk.

Piper glared at his back for a full three and a half seconds before stalking over to him and yanking his arm so he spun around. The look on his face while he spun was one of wide-eyed innocence, as if questioning her as to why he was stopped. She never saw the look though. Within a second of his face facing hers their lips had joined. A moment later and the main room of the nightclub was completely devoid of people, the only sound heard, the shutting of the office door.

Inside the office he laid on top of her, pushing her back into the sofa. Suddenly Owen broke the embrace, propped himself up on his elbows and looked down at her face, which was only inches below his.

"Well I suppose they aren't going to take much notice if I don't come back."

"Why would they?" she said while lunging forward in an attempt to capture his lips once again, but he pulled back further.

"Does this thing here, does it mean I have to cancel my dates next week?" he asked innocently.

She let her head drop back on the pillow and looked up at him with a surprised expression she was trying hard not to turn into jealousy.

"I'd say so. What dates?"

"Oh you know, just the usual. Kathy, Mary, Tanya, all those woman out there who want me."

Looking at her annoyed features he had to let a grin break out.

"Piper I've barely talked to another woman since I met you at the park nine months ago."

She smiled and brought her face up to his, "Who would want you anyway?" and with that she kissed him and their life together began.

A month later the same pair stood in the living room of her house, three feet apart and screaming at the top of their lungs.

"I just don't understand, why do you get to make all the damn decisions?" Owen bellowed at her.

"You've got to be kidding me. Me? Make all the decisions?" asked Piper.

"That's what I said. You decide what restaurant we go to, you decide that we can't take a trip to New York, you decide everything."

"Oh please not the New York issue again, we buried that one last week," yelled Piper, annoyed.

"If you call you laying down the law about it burying it then yeah I guess we did."

"So we're picking on all of my faults now then are we, what about yours?"

"I don't have any," he said while shooting her a glare.

Piper let out a hollow laugh at that.

"Please, you're like a damn overgrown kid. You don't even eat your green vegetables. You surf, you don't take your job seriously, you have the emotional capacity of a two year old, you didn't even cry when we watched Titanic."

"Not everyone cries after the seven hundredth watching." Owen scoffed.

"You can't even match your own socks, look at them now, one of them is yellow, the other is blue, what's wrong with you?"

"Well at least I don't strive after perfection and I'm not obsessed with having a 'normal life'. You know I still don't know what's bloody unnormal about your life. If it's the divorce thing get over it, plenty of people get divorced. I suppose it could be the endless family emergencies, an emergency that often, now that's not normal. But that's just one of your little secrets isn't it, something you will never let Owen in on, he's not important enough."

"You're talking about yourself in the third person." He didn't respond to that, simply continued to glare at her. "I'm making the damn cookies!" she finally shrieked and turned to stalk into the kitchen.

"Fine, I didn't want cake anyway," he yelled at her retreating form.

"Fine," she yelled back.

He blinked then asked in a disbelieving voice, "Were we just fighting about cookies and cake?"

"I think so," she snapped.

She took two more steps then stopped and looked back at him confused. Before either could say another word a voice interrupted them.

"You guys are driving me insane, you're fighting about cookies and cake." It was Paige. She rolled her eyes at the two and stalked past them and up the stairs.

"Do you really think I'm an overgrown child?" asked Owen.

"No," laughed Piper, "I could never love an overgrown child."

She turned to walk away once again but suddenly came to a halt. She spun around quickly and saw Owen who had a completely startled expression on his face.

"What… I mean…" She was cut off by Owen's voice.

"You love me?"

Piper didn't say anything, simply deciding to stare at the ground. After a minute of debate in her head she decided that it was all too much, especially judging from the fact that she hadn't heard a response, and raised her hands, getting ready to freeze him. Before she could however, she was interrupted by Owen pressing his lips to hers.

"I love you too, have since the day I met you I think. I didn't say anything, thought you weren't ready." He lent in to kiss her again.

Bringing his mind back to the park where he stood he noticed that the light had gone and darkness had completely engulfed his world. Looking down at the wrinkled paper in his hand, he read it once more. It was a document confirming a flight to New York. A quick glance at his watch and he confirmed his suspicions. The plane was about to take off.

He was supposed to be on that flight. He was supposed to be sitting in a first class seat, his wife at his side, toasting to her, wishing her a happy birthday, and calming her nerves while she worried for the children they had left for the weekend.

The children. Owen sighed and lifted his body from the tree. That one phrase was all he ever needed to remind him why he shouldn't be in a park. His wife might have moved on but she had left her children, their children behind. He had to get home, to the place where so many memories were held, all of them of a better time, all painful to recall, but he had to go. He knew he would feel better once he got there. The only thing he wanted was his wife. He couldn't live a life without her. His home was where he found her again.

As he walked through the front door of his home her presence captured him, it filled every part of his being. The aroma of her secret recipes hung in the air. The smell was wafting out of the kitchen. As he walked towards it he had to remind himself that his wife's face would not greet him when he walked through the door. What did meet him was his son. He watched as Wyatt stood over a large pot, stirring the contents to perfection. Cooking was a skill he had inherited from his mother, that and her humor he noted, as Wyatt offered him a witty one-liner while still bending over the contents of the bowl. He hadn't even looked up when he had entered the kitchen, he'd just known he was there.

Leaving the kitchen and walking upstairs he found more pieces of the puzzle that was his wife. Sitting on the bed in his bedroom were Chris and Shawn. One look at Chris and images of her face rushed into his head. They had the same skin tone, the same soft features, even the same nose. Shawn, however, looked nothing like his wife. He had his hair, his face, his build, not stocky, yet not lanky either. What Shawn did have was her great ability to panic. Shawn was not able not keep a cool head in any situation, he worried about everything, but in a very charming way, just like his mother.

All three boys had their mothers kind, gentle nature, they were all very worrisome, all slightly neurotic, Chris more so than the other two. Despite this there was still so much of his wife that had left him forever. Not one of his boys had her eyes. Wyatt had his grandmothers, Chris had his fathers and Shawn had his aunt Phoebe's, her eyes were gone. As was her heart. There was not a single person on earth who had his wife's heart. His children had bits of it but not all. And no one had her laugh. He missed her so much but he had to be content with what he did have left of her, he was just thankful he had any left at all.

Owen stood in his doorway and watched his sons for a moment. They were sifting through a box of photographs, both oblivious to his presence. They too were remembering their mother on her birthday. He watched a Chris pointed to a photo that was of their family, telling Shawn it was taken the day he was born. He saw himself in that photograph, but it was like looking at another man. He just wished he could tell that overly happy man who was looking at his wife so adoringly, that it was all going to end. Maybe if he had known the end was coming it would have hurt less when it did.

-------------------------------------------

He stood on top of the Bay Bridge looking down at the world below, the world that was passing him by. It was an activity that he had done many times in his years. Standing on top of the bridge removed his body from the world and his attachments to it. It offered him perspective. It allowed him to think only of the greater good, something that was central to an Elder's life.

On this night he stood in his usual position, arms spread wide, neck straight, forcing him to look directly ahead to the city in the distance. He could feel the wind rush through him. He could feel himself become an insignificant life force in comparison to the world at large. But his mind, it did not empty. Usually when he took part in this activity his mind would become a void. On this night, and so many nights for some time now, it did not become a void. Thoughts traveled around his head, refusing peace, offering only guilt.

His wife was dead.

He remembered the last conversation he had with her, only moments before her demise. It hadn't really even been a conversation. It had been an argument.

"Leo we've been through this too many times before, you need to get over it, you need to move on with your life," Piper had sighed whilst rubbing her head in frustration.

"Piper come on, I love you, I know you love me, what more to is then that?" Leo said, looking at Piper with a pained expression.

"There's a lot more to it and you know damn well there is," Piper snapped.

"What? Your so called husband, your not even married," said Leo, also becoming frustrated.

"Yes we are! It's…"

"No you're not," Leo cut her off. "We never got divorced, not officially anyway," he stated matter-of-factly.

"Leo we never got married officially, there could be no legal divorce. And if we're playing the technicality game then when we got married you were still married to Lily, therefore our marriage could not have been technically correct."

"That's beside the point," said Leo.

"Exactly Leo. The point is I am married to Owen, I love Owen with all my heart. We have children together…"

"Child," Leo said cutting her off once more. "You only have one child with him, Wyatt and Chris are mine."

"We have children together," continued Piper while shooting him a glare. "Owen is their dad because their own dad couldn't be bothered with them. We have a life together. You can't just swoop in here after all these years and say 'oh honey I'm sorry, I think I made a mistake' and think that its all going to be ok, that we can just pick up where we left off fourteen years ago. You can't do that Leo, not with me. You may have another chance with the boys but not with me, never again."

"I don't think that Piper, I just want you to understand that I do love you and that I want another shot at making this work with us because we are meant to be together. That thing that happened with Gideon, it changed me and not for the better, but I'm better now. Piper we're soul mates, you can't deny that."

"I'm not denying anything Leo, I'm just saying that in this lifetime we have already had our shot and it didn't work. Maybe in another we will have another go at it, or maybe I'll end up with Owen again, I don't know and frankly I don't really care. I'm living the life I have now and that one is with Owen. Now you need to leave."

She had been killed minutes later. She had denied him and everything he once lived for and then she had been killed. Her death brought about an even more profound change in him. He had looked down at his son while he begged his mother to stay alive and for the first time actually let the boy into his heart as his own. And then he had done something he had not done in fourteen years, he had denied the greater good.

One statement to his son was all it took. "If you hadn't distracted me I could have saved her." That was all it took to deny the greater good. His son, along with his two brothers, had a destiny greater than any before them, greater even then the charmed ones themselves. That one statement would have caused his son to deny magic, to not let it ruin his life as it had done to his mother and father. With that simple statement, he had saved his son, or so he believed.

Standing on top of the Bay Bridge, Leo let out a small smile. For the first time in his sons life he had put the boys needs before his own, before the needs he was expected to uphold. The statement probably made any reconciliation between the two impossible, but at least his son would be alive hating his father, rather than dead loving him.

A/N: Alrighty well that's another chapter done. Hope you enjoyed it. I'm starting the next one right away but it probably won't be up for awhile yet. Reviews do keep me motivated though, so if you want to write a small something to tell me what you think or to ask any questions you might have do so. By the way Ican'tthinkofanick, you're possibly my favorite reviewer. Your reviews are always so long and give me so much to smile about, thanks heaps dude.


	21. Goodbye Owen

Disclaimer- I don't own Charmed. I just wrote this story.

Chapter Twenty –

"Leo!" He was angry and his voice reflected that. It had taken a deep scathing tone that demanded to be listened to.

As he stood on top of the Bay Bridge and called for the man who he should have been calling dad, his anger magnified. He was not supposed to be using the bridge for these purposes; he was supposed to be up here with his brother, talking to him about all the problems that had started since their mother died nine months ago. He hadn't been up on the bridge for those purposes in nine months. Instead once a week for the past seven months he had stood on top of the bridge and called for Leo. The man had not yet responded to a call.

A voice from behind startled the boy. "Chris." The voice was followed by a tired sigh. "What do you want?"

Chris spun around and sent a glare at Leo. "You need to talk to your son," he stated angrily.

"I am talking to my son." Off Chris' glare he continued. "What's wrong with Wyatt?"

"He's not coping. He acts like he is but I know he isn't. He needs you." Chris stated.

"He's got you. He's got your mothers husband and that brother of yours. I can't help him. I'm too busy. I'm trying to save you from whatever that organization was that killed your mother."

"You've got to be kidding me. The one time that Wyatt actually needs you and you treat him like you spent fourteen years treating me. He needs your help Leo. If you want to start doing stuff for me now help my brother. That's the only thing I'll ever ask of you."

Leo sighed and regarded Chris wearily. For the first time since their conversation began Chris actually looked at his father. He looked old. That was the first thing Chris noticed. He looked old but more than that, he looked broken, the same way Owen had looked for the past nine months. A broken man living reluctantly.

"How isn't he coping?" Leo finally asked.

Chris smiled slightly, finally having gotten through to Leo. "He's trying to find moms killer. Trying to do what you guys are I guess. But more than that, he's so obsessed with becoming powerful. He says he has to protect me and Shawn, keeps saying that he's got to be ready so that he can look after us, defeat moms killer for us. He skips school all the time so he can refine his powers." Chris stopped for a moment and looked uneasily up into his father's eyes, then continued. "I think he's letting his monster take over," he whispered.

"He's doing the right thing," stated Leo, apparently ignoring Chris' last comment. "You should be getting ready for these demons as well. Are you?"

Chris looked down guiltily at that question. He didn't want to admit it but he hadn't used any of his powers, other than orbing, since the day his mother died. Her dying was his fault. He knew that. He had gotten in the way. Leo could have saved her if he hadn't. He had killed her.

Finally he lifted his eyes and looked back at his father. "Just talk to Wyatt okay." He orbed away, never seeing the slight smile that took over Leo's features, not knowing that him rejecting his powers was exactly what his father wanted of him.

He arrived at his new destination with a heavy heart. This place had become so familiar to him over the past nine months. It was his mother's grave. The place where she was laid to rest. When she had been alive her presence was what it normally had taken to calm him. Death had not changed that fact. Just been where she was allowed him to think of life, as he knew it.

In the past nine months his world had fallen apart. His family had lost all that was great about it. His mother's death had changed everything. His dad had become a lost man who only held some semblance of a life together so that his son's could have a chance of living again. His little brother had lost his childish innocence and Wyatt had begun fall apart. He was letting his monster take over. He no longer cared about what was right; he cared about surviving, about becoming powerful enough to survive and to make his brother's survive with him.

His façade as the good child helping his family through their loss stopped everyone, except for Chris, from seeing what was going on. His Aunts were oblivious. That was to be expected though, because after his mother's death everyone had retreated into his or her own families. The unity they had once shared had dissipated. His dad didn't fully understand it so couldn't help. He believed Wyatt to just be going through a phase to cope with his grief. His grandpa didn't understand it either. He had talked to his Aunt Prue about Wyatt, but she had been too caught up in her own guilt at the time to take much notice. When he had approached the subject again, some time after his first attempt, she had talked to Wyatt and, after been unable to get through to him, referred Chris to their father.

Sighing, Chris pulled himself from his thoughts and walked slowly to the manor. He did not orb. If he orbed he would arrive home far too soon. It was a place he desperately avoided these days. Its life had drained. Any happiness within the walls was so obviously fake that it just made Chris sadder. His family was missing his mother. It seemed unable to function without her.

When he walked through the door to his home he felt his body begin to clam. It was no longer a home, just a house, just a place that made him uncomfortable.

As he walked in he could feel a presence he usually dreaded feeling, but this time it caused only relief to course through him. Leo was in the conservatory.

He walked into the room and found his father and his dad mid-fight.

"They're my sons. You can't just orb in here and tell me you're taking them away," Owen growled at Leo.

"Would you at least let me explain? For god sakes I am just doing everyone a favor here," Leo stated, glaring at Owen.

"What are you guy's talking about?" Chris finally interrupted.

Both men looked over at him, startled out of their argument.

Instead of answering him right away, Leo looked to Owen and asked, "Can I just explain to them what I am suggesting? Then you can all make a decision together."

Owen hesitated but eventually nodded his consent.

"Go get Wyatt Chris," Leo instructed.

Fifteen minutes later the explanations were finished and Chris wasn't in a very good mood. Apparently Leo's solution to Wyatt's problem was to send both of the boy's to magic school full time.

Chris was just about to make his opinion on the matter known when a voice startled him into silence. "I'll go pack." It was Wyatt.

Shocked, Chris looked to his dad to see what he was going to say but was once again startled. Owen was nodding his head in agreement.

"You guys can come and visit on weekends if you like," he stated softly.

"What?" Chris exclaimed. "You're going to let Leo take us away?"

"Chris your father's right." That simple statement hurt Chris in an uncountable number of ways. "I can't protect you. Without your mother you're vulnerable to those demons that took her."

Chris didn't hear the explanations. He didn't want to hear them. Instead he stood abruptly and said, "Fine! What would be the good in staying here anyway. If Wyatt goes that's my family gone. I'll see you around Owen." It was the first time he'd used his dad's first name since he was six.

His dad appeared to ignore him and instead looked to Leo, "You have to take Shawn as well. I can't look after witches. As much as I want to I can't protect them."

With that Chris stalked from the room, leaving his little brother behind to protest for himself.

A short time later Chris was in his room staring at an empty duffle bag.

"Chris…" It was Owen. "You know I don't want you to go buddy. You have to know that. I love you too much to want to see you leave. I just think it's the best thing."

Chris looked up at him and saw how defeated he looked.

"Mom wouldn't have wanted us to leave," Chris stated softly.

"Your mom would have wanted you to be safe," Owen said, knowing Chris knew that was true.

"We can protect ourselves. Wyatt is going to be more powerful than mom was anyway."

"Wyatt wants to go. And you can't expect him to look after you and Shawn. He's your brother not your parent," Owen said, moving to kneel down in front of Chris.

Chris lifted his eyes off the floor and finally looked into his dad's own. He knew what he wanted to say, knew what he should say in the situation he was in, but the words that were meant to come never did.

"Goodbye Owen," he said instead.

Chris picked himself up of the bed and moved to pack his things. As he did so he felt his dads eyes on his back. He knew exactly what they were expressing. Disappointment, but most of all, sadness. But he was hurt, and stubborn. If his dad didn't care enough to let them stay, then he wasn't going to care about him.

He heard his dad exit the room and when Chris was sure he was gone, he whispered into the air what he couldn't but should have said before, "I don't want to leave you dad." He couldn't tell Owen that, it would just make leaving harder. It was easier to leave when you didn't care about what you were leaving.

Six hours later Chris was sitting on his new bed in magic school, trying desperately to keep the threatened tears in, when Leo orbed in. When he orbed out again the tears finally did fall, but now they were for a completely different reason.

Those people that killed his mother had attacked again that evening. They had split up and gone to three separate locations.

The first group had gone to the Brody family home. A battle had waged. His Uncle Kyle was dead. His mother's whitelighter, Nick, was dead. He had saved Paige's life, losing his own in the process. That family was broken, only mother and daughter remained.

The second group had gone to his next-door neighbors home. His Aunt Phoebe's family had been attacked. His Aunt Phoebe was dead. She had jumped in front of her daughters when the demons turned on them. His Aunt Prue had orbed in and taken over, conquered, and left again before she was seen. His Uncle Les hadn't been home. He had come back to find a family without a wife, without a mother.

"Chris," said a soft voice, bringing him out of his thoughts.

"Come here Shawnie," Chris said, opening his arms to the boy that was hovering in his doorway.

He looked down at the boy gathered up in his arms and saw his dad looking back at him. The same nose, the same mouth, the same hair, but different eyes. He would never see his dad's soft blue eyes again. The third group had gone to the manor. His dad was dead.

"You're still my brother right Chris?" asked Shawn.

"Of course I am. What happened doesn't change anything."

"But you said-," Shawn started but Chris cut him off.

"I was just angry Shawn. I didn't mean it."

"Why did they have to leave us?" Shawn asked, tears trickling down his young face.

Chris had no answer for that, for he was wondering the very same thing. Everyone he ever loved left him. No one stayed. Leo had left, then his mother, then his dad. His Aunt Phoebe was gone now too. He figured it to be only a matter of time before the others in his life left him too. With that thought he tightened his grip on his little brother, hoping that he at least would stay with him for the rest of his life. Another presence should have been in the room and it wasn't. They were losing Wyatt too.

"Can we go home? I don't want to live here Chrissy," Shawn said.

"I'll see what I can do. I want to go home too. Wyatt won't come though. It will just be us."

A sob escaped Chris and he could think only of the last words he ever said to his dad.

"Goodbye Owen."

His dad had died thinking that he hated him.

A/N: Thanks for reading. Sorry for the long delays. Just been really busy. Please leave a review, you know what to do.


	22. Don't Forget To Live

Disclaimer – I don't own Charmed, nor am I making any money off this story.

Chapter Twenty-One –

The field went as far and wide as they could see. Standing in its earth made them feel as if they were the only people in the world, and as far as the occupants were concerned, they might as well be.

The field seemed to be a place of serenity. At this moment it was not. Fireballs flew in every direction, never hitting the desired targets, but always coming close. Hands flew in every direction, hands with the intent to kill, always looking to make something explode, never managing to make the desired targets go up in smoke.

It was war, a war that had been coming for a day short of three years, since the day they killed his mother. Over time the anger driving the war had built up. They had killed his uncle, his aunt and his dad. The light side of the war was driven by hate, by revenge. They weren't saving innocents with this war; they were avenging the life that these people had taken from them.

Ducking a fireball, Chris ran to his left where his Aunt Paige was fighting off two attackers. This battle was the diversion. Wyatt was in the underworld with two of his associates from magic school battling the leader. Kill him and the collective would be weakened, enough so to vanquish the others fairly easily.

Chris was just about to telekinetically send one of his aunt's attackers flying when an astral projection forming across the field distracted him.

"Shawn! What the hell are you doing? Get out of here!" Chris yelled desperately across the field.

"No Chris! I want to help," Shawn yelled back defiantly.

"Shawn, get out of here!" This time it was Paige doing the demanding.

For a moment Chris struggled with what to do. On one hand his aunt was in desperate need of assistance, on the other, his brother needed his help. The internal dilemma was brought to an abrupt standstill however, when the demons became aware of Shawn's presence in the battle. Two turned on him and before Chris could do anything an arrow and a fireball were speeding towards Shawn from opposite directions. Chris could only stare as they hurtled towards him. Beside him he heard two explosions. The demons Paige had been wrestling were gone. They both could only stare.

The next thing Chris knew, the two offending demons were hurtling across the field, both exploding to ash when they landed, and a woman stood before an unscathed Shawn, yelling at him at the top of her lungs.

"Get home!" were the final words Chris heard her say to him.

Just as she was about to turn around after Shawn had left, the field began to rumble, the demons began to shake, and dark lights burst out of each of them. From that moment on each and every one of them were vanquished with ease. Wyatt had done it. They had won. They had defeated the force that ruined his family. Chris just hoped his family could be repaired.

He looked around when the people of the light were the only ones left on the field, and caught sight of his Aunt Paige. She was lying on her back in the dirt, looking tired but victorious.

At that sight Chris let out a yelp of happiness. For the first time in three years a true smile, one void of sadness, broke out on his face. And he ran. Ran towards his aunt. He ran through the crowd of other magical beings, towards his last connection to his mother.

"Can I give you a hand up?" Someone had arrived at his aunt only moments before he. It was the woman who saved Shawn. It was his Aunt Prue.

"Yeah thanks," Paige said, bringing her hand up to shield her eyes from the sun. And then she was mute.

For the first time Prue and Paige stood together, looking into the others eyes, hands held in help. Two sisters who had never before met were united. They stood silent and then suddenly, they both fell into the other's embrace, crying.

The next morning Chris was sitting in the attic musing over the events of the past three years. The Book of Shadows was open in his lap and he was leafing through it, staring at pages he had stared at a million times, not really seeing them.

Mostly he was thinking of Wyatt. He was an eighteen-year-old man hardly recognizable as the brother he had been every day of Chris' life up until his fourteenth birthday. For the past three years Chris had held onto the feeble hope that the change would end once the demons had been vanquished. Wyatt hadn't returned home yet, he had gone back to magic school. That act had been enough to diminish those hopes.

His brother had turned into a power hungry maniac with no sense of right or wrong, no sense of good or evil, just the desire to have the world follow his command. The change had happened slowly but it had happened. It started as revenge, as a protective measure. Now the threat was gone, the revenge had been had. He was still gone.

Chris lifted himself from his seat and walked around the shelves that held all the Halliwell heirlooms. He felt himself lucky to be living where he was, at the manor. After his dad had died Paige had moved in with Patience. He and Shawn had moved back almost straight away, but Wyatt had stayed, he did not want to return to his home.

Chris came to a standstill at the end of the shelves and stood staring at the two picture's tacked to it. The pictures were images he would never forget, images of his fifth Christmas. He remembered them been taken. The first one he was in, the second only his mom and dad.

He reached out his hand and gently touched three faces he would never truly touch again. His mother in all her beauty, sleeping soundly in both pictures, content and in love. His dad, exactly the same. And Wyatt, his brother. In the picture that Chris too shared a space, he was young, he was innocent, he was the brother that Chris grew up loving. The man now had become the man Chris grew up fearing, the man he had promised to defeat. There was no semblance left of the family that shared the space in those frames. All had disappeared from the world, even Chris himself was no longer the boy in that frame, he was a man with only one purpose, and that was to defeat the monster that his brother had succumbed to.

It was on this day, his seventeenth birthday, exactly three years since the beginning of it all, that he, once and for all, truly acknowledged that it was his destiny to save his brother. The only way Wyatt could be the savior he was born to be was if Chris saved him from the monster that had taken his soul, and that is what he would devote his life to, saving Wyatt. But for today, for the first time since his mother's death, he would celebrate his birthday, because that is what she would have wanted of him. She always hated herself when she ruined a special day of her son's, so he wouldn't let that happen.

"Chris!" called a voice from a floor below. A moment later Paige entered the room. "I know it's your birthday and everything but can you go help Patty with her assignment. Les just came over grumbling about how he didn't understand anything."

Chris looked up at his aunt and smiled warmly at her. "Yeah no problem, Ryan and Kel aren't due for about an hour anyway. It's still alright we go out isn't it, even after everything that happened?"

"Course it is. You know that cousin of yours is very lucky we have a science wiz in the family; otherwise she'd be completely screwed for this thing. You better go." Paige then lent down and placed a soft kiss on his cheek. "Happy Birthday little man."

"Well you have fun with what your doing, I'm going to talk with the sister you never bothered to mention I had," she said accusingly, turning to walk out of the room.

"Oh come on, how long are you going to hold that one over my head," Chris called after her.

Paige inclined her head and said with a grin, "As long as possible mate, maybe you'll remember this the next time you think of keeping a secret from me."

Over the time since they moved in together Paige and Chris had grown extremely close. They had been brought together through their grief. She had lost her sister's, her husband, her brother-in-law and her whitelighter. Chris couldn't help but feel for her and that caused the two to form a bond that would never be broken. She had become a sort of surrogate mother to him.

Chris arrived at the house next door to his own and walked through the front door. Upon arrival in the living room he found the man who had become his confident over the past three years, his grandpa. He had moved in with Les to help raise the girls after Phoebe passed away.

"Christopher! Here to see Patty are you? Well she's up in her room. You might need to kick the rug rats out before you get any work done though." Chris nodded and turned to leave. "Oh and Chris… Happy Birthday."

Chris entered his cousins' room and instantly saw that his grandfather was right.

"Oi you two," Chris said to Shawn and Prue who were creating havoc in the room, "Get out, we've got work to do."

"Sorry Christopher," said Shawn in a mock admiring tone.

"Yeah sorry your highness, just because you're seventeen now, you think you can boss us little people around," said Prue.

"Get out," said Chris trying to keep a stern face. "When's it due?" he then asked Patty, who was sitting at her desk.

"Tomorrow and dad said I can't leave this room until it's done."

"God Patty, you're going to have to make up all the experiment bits, you should have started this ages ago," said Chris while reading through the assignment sheet.

"Chris if I had a blinkin' time machine I'd be a scientist and I would not be having this problem, so save the damn lectures and help me aye," said Patty, exasperated.

Chris just laughed and sat down beside her. An hour later he had done all he could to help her and left her with an easy hour more of work to do.

The day progressed and Ryan and Kel dragged Chris all over San Francisco. Just as the three were exiting the movie theater Ryan's phone rang.

"Guy's I've got to get home, mom needs me to watch the youngsters," he said referring to his little brother and sister. "You two go have dinner, I'm real sorry to bail out on your B-Day Perry." And then he was gone.

As they were walking down the footpath Chris turned to Kel with the intent of asking her where she wanted to go but was struck silent by her blue eyes boring into his green. His breath hitched in his throat as he took in the girl he had been friends with since his first day of school. She had grown into a beautiful woman. She was tall, almost as tall as him; she had beautiful dark hair that contrasted with an awing effect to her dancing bright eyes. She truly was entrancing. It was a fact he had noticed more and more over the last year.

"Diner… Where do you want to go?" he asked finally finding his voice.

"It's your birthday," she answered with a smile. "Wherever you want to."

"Well this place looks as good as any," said Chris indicating the restaurant they were coming up to.

"Actually I've got a better idea," she stated, taking his arm and leading him further down the street to a take-away place.

"Why do you pretend to let me have a say in these things?" Chris asked exasperated.

Kel just smiled and ordered food for them both before retrieving it and leading him to the park they had gone the night of Wyatt fifteenth birthday.

As they sat on the swinging chair together Chris could only smile as he remembered Kel telling him off for kicking the crap out of the bin like a pro, but his smile faded as he remembered the way his mother had followed the two of them and talked to him after Kel had gone.

As if sensing what was on her friends mind Kel said "You had a wonderful mother Chris, it's okay to remember her today, to mourn her, even if it is your birthday."

"But I promised myself I was going to enjoy today. You know as well as I do that she would've hated to see me not enjoying my birthday."

"You did enjoy today Chris. We had an awesome day. You are allowed a moment of remembrance. She wouldn't have blamed you for that."

Chris nodded while staring at the ground. "She loved you you know. Like you were her own daughter."

"Yeah I know. Piper always told me that if she had had a daughter she would have wanted her to be just like me. And it was weird cause all I ever did was lead her little angel astray," said Kel, her own head bowed in reflection.

"Mom only ever had one problem with you," said Chris, lifting his head to look at Kel, a hint of a smile playing across his lips.

"My coke consumption levels," said Kel with a laugh. "Always said it was going to kill me before any other evil in the world did." Kel lifted her head and looked Chris in the eye. "I haven't touched a drop since she died," she confessed, a tear trailing down her cheek.

"I know," said Chris, moving his hand to wipe away the tear.

"You do?" she hiccupped, lifting her own hand to cover his.

"I know everything I can about you."

With that said Kel let out a moan, removed her hand from his and placed it on the back of his neck, moved her head forward and placed a soft kiss on his lips. In that moment the world seemed to stop. The wind stopped blowing, the trees stopped fluttering and the blinking streetlight stopped blinking. And then the moment was over. Chris pulled back and looked at the girl he had fallen in love with, eyes wide in horror.

"Kel I can't do this, we can't do this." And her eyes, only a moment before, filled with such hope, now reflected only helplessness.

"I knew you were going to say that. I don't know how and I don't know why you are, but I knew you would," she said with a humorless smile. "Come on, let's go back to yours."

"Kel…" said Chris reaching out, trying to stop her.

"Chris don't, just forget it." She bent and picked up there rubbish and moved to place it in the bin, pausing briefly as she did so, looking at the dents she had witnessed Chris make in the bin.

She took off down the street towards his home, knowing he was only a couple of steps behind her.

She heard a heavy sigh, "It's not that I don't like you…" And that was all she needed to hear. Kel whirled on him, fury in her eyes.

"Then what's the problem?" she asked angrily.

"Kel… I come from a very complicated family…" he started but Kel cut him off.

"Chris I know your family. I can handle them, I have been for the past ten years anyway."

"Do you think all those deaths were coincidences?" he asked, his voice radiating anger now too. "Of course they weren't. People who I love leave me, they die, they get killed, or they just run away. Do you think I want that to happen to you?"

"Are you comparing me to your father? For god sake Chris, I think you know me better than that."

"No I'm comparing you to my mother, and all the other's that died. They could defend themselves too. You can't, you don't know anything about it," Chris yelled at her.

"And whose fault is that? You won't let me know anything about it. I've asked a million times. Anyway you can't hide behind that anymore, you told me today that those people got caught. They got the people that took your family. You need a better excuse than that," she yelled back.

"It's not just them, there's more, and you can't protect yourself from them. I can't risk losing you. I can't protect you."

"I could be hit by a bus tomorrow Chris. Anything could happen. You can't focus so much on what could be, just on what is, and what is is that I am in love with you, and don't you try telling me you're not in love with me too because you basically already said it." Breathing deeply Kel quieted her voice and whispered "If you had the choice between the time you had with your mother and losing her, or never knowing her and never having to lose her, what would you choose?"

She didn't wait for an answer. Sometime during their argument they had arrived at the path leading up to the manor and Kel simply turned and walked up that path. She was just reaching out her hand to turn the doorknob when she felt a hand on her arm. The hand pulled her arm and swiftly spun her around. She came face to face with a very determined Chris. He had a fire in his eyes that excited her. He walked two steps forward until her back slammed into the door, creating a loud thud, and his body was pressed up against hers.

"You're persuasive," he stated simply.

"Mmm I know," she said, a smile creeping over her lips.

Chris smiled down at her and hungrily crashed his lips into hers. This kiss was not as soft and sweet as the last, but rather driven by hungry desire. Tongues mingled, necks were suckled and the breathing was heavy. Neither noticed the porch light come on, neither did either of them notice the locks been turned in the door. They did notice however, when the door was pulled open, as both of them fell to the floor, mid kiss, and looked up to hear a loud shout of "SURPRISE" come from the room, before a silent shockwave and then a chaotic sound of wolf-whistling.

Chris lifted his head and saw a banner that read, "Happy 17th Birthday Chris," and looked around to find the room filled with his family and friends.

Red faced he picked himself up from his position on top of Kel and helped her off the ground.

"You could have told me," he whispered in her ear.

"Wouldn't have been much of a surprise then would have it. Besides now we don't have to bother telling everyone, we just did it in one shot." She smiled at him and said, "Find me later," before walking away.

He watched her go until a fist hitting his shoulder brought him around.

"Oi, there'll be plenty of time to stare at your girls ass later Perry. Now come on we have a party to enjoy. Oh by the way you can thank your aunt for your little alone time with Kel today. She thought if I left you two alone the two of you might finally get your act together. The woman's always right," he sighed wistfully. And with that Ryan walked away, leaving Chris shaking his head at his friend.

Chris mingled for a while and as the energy from the surprise wore off people relaxed into the party.

He was just heading towards the drinks table where he could see Kel waiting for him when he saw something that almost sent him hurtling across the room and up the stairs. Instead, though, he held himself together and quickly scanned the room for Shawn. He found him standing near where Paige and Prue were conversing, talking to Patience.

"Shawn, you're coming with me," he said, grabbing the ten year old around the middle.

As he walked away with the boy in his arms he heard a snippet of the conversation between his aunts.

"I just don't understand, why now?" Paige asked.

"Well I've been dead for twenty years, I'm allowed to be seen in San Francisco now," Prue explained for the tenth time, exasperated but smiling all the same.

Chris moved quickly and walked with his brother up the stairs and into his bedroom. He then dropped Shawn on his bed and lunged across the room to where his mom and dad were standing. He wrapped his arms around his mothers' warm, alive body.

"Hey little buddy." He let his dad's voice wash over him and memorized the exact way that he ruffled his hair as he said it.

"Mom…" he moaned into her shoulder, "What are you doing here?"

She pulled back and looked at her son's, "This is a gift to you on your birthday, for all the work you did, vanquishing the demons. We only have five minutes."

Chris embraced his dad and Piper walked across to where Shawn was sitting stoic on Chris' bed.

"Baby?" Piper said, stroking the boy's cheek.

Shawn raised his eyes and looked up into his mothers', "You're just going to leave again," he stated.

"I know, but you're staying and that's what's important." Shawn nodded his head, acknowledging the truth that Chris had spent many nights telling him. Their parents wouldn't have wanted it to be any other way; they just wanted their children to survive.

The boy lifted his arms and wrapped them around his mother's neck before jumping off the bed and running to his father's awaiting embrace.

Everyone in the room felt the absence of Wyatt but none acknowledged it.

"Chris, we've been watching, we know what you believe your destiny is and I just wanted you to know that you're right to a degree," said Piper. "You are the only one who can save your brother and we believe you can do it," she said taking his hand.

"You need to know that the six children of the charmed ones are apart of a prophecy."

"Prophecy? What prophecy?" Chris asked confused.

"Chris we don't have a lot of time, just listen," stated Piper before continuing. "First there is the new generation of The Charmed Ones and that's not you three boys like your Aunt Prue thought, it's the girls, Patty, Prue and Pate." Piper paused for a moment to let this sink in before continuing, worry stretching over her features.

"The part of it that you three boy's come in is the extremes. There will be two of the extremes and one that will balance them, and help them to maintain peace within themselves. Wyatt's extreme is his whitelighter side. You know that he has all the powers of whitelighters and then some. He's a true whitelighter, at least he should be, you're not. You just have some of the powers of a whitelighter. He only has two powers from his witch side and that's telekinesis and the ability to slow down and speed up molecules, which both you and Shawn have anyway."

"Shawn, your powers are only that of your Wicca heritage, you're the other extreme. Chris you have both. You're the balance. You can orb and heal, when you open your heart, but you can't sense, and you have telekinesis, the molecule control and astral projection, but you don't have premonitions and you can't levitate like Shawn can."

"What your mother's basically saying boys, is that Wyatt and Shawn are the extremes mentioned, and you are the balance Chris. You can save your brother. It's your destiny to do it so that you three boys, along with the new generation of Charmed Ones, can protect the world from evil together. That is your ultimate destiny, but how you get there, that's your own path to follow, to invent even," said Owen.

Chris nodded, trying to take all of this information in. He got the general gist of it. He was defiantly going to save Wyatt.

"We have to go now boys," said Piper looking at her sons with a pained expression. "I love you both so much," she said, hugging each of them in turn.

"I love you too little buddy, and you too Shawnie," said Owen, hugging both the boys as well.

"Wait!" exclaimed Shawn suddenly. "You'll never guess what Chris was doing when we opened the door!"

Chris' face turned red at the memory and he looked up into his parents' faces to see them exchanging guilty looks.

"You were watching!" demanded Chris. "That's just disgusting," he exclaimed.

Shawn started laughing and Piper tried to explain, "We just like to check in every now and again."

"Yeah it's not our fault that we caught a very entertaining moment," said Owen before getting slapped on the arm by Piper.

"I do love her like she's my own daughter though," stated Piper, "And Chris… Don't forget to live alright." And a moment later they were gone.

Shawn turned to his brother, a hint of sadness on his face, and said, "We just have to look at it like we got an extra five minutes with our mom and dad Chris." But Chris wasn't listening; instead he was staring at his doorway where Kel stood staring at the place where his mom and dad had been only a moment before.

"Shawn go back downstairs alright," Chris stated. He let the boy out and then grabbed Kel's arm and led her to his bed.

Half-an-hour later Chris and Kel returned to the party, arm in arm, all secrets between them revealed.

As he walked he passed his aunts and heard another snippet of their conversation.

"Isn't it weird, being dead and all?" asked Paige.

"Just have to look at it like this. I would be turning fifty-one this year if I wasn't. Imagine the wrinkles," answered Prue, touching her thirty-year-old forehead with her fingre tips.

Chris looked down at Kel and she looked back at him laughing. "I guess a lot of stuff does make more sense now," she stated simply, and broke out in another fit of laughter. For the rest of the party he didn't even notice the absence of his father or brother, or any of the deceased relatives, he just enjoyed what was, as Kel had taught him to do.

A/N: Well that's another chapter done. Damn long one but I had a lot to put in it. Please review. I love feedback.


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